Powerless
by fanfictionPenguin
Summary: In a world that exists with those who have 'aura', comes a power located deep within one's soul known as a 'semblance'. There are legends and heroes that have such things called semblances, along with every living individual having the ability to have and use their semblance. However, as impossible as it is... there is one certain person that doesn't have such a thing.
1. The Stranger That I Met At The Library

**He lived to tell that tale.**

A tale that none would believe in. Where a boy would shout wolf, and no one would come to save them.

Of blood and tragedy, stands the teen who walked on soil meant for war. He had worn armor- armor that was long since damaged and dented. He held a sword that promised victory- a sword that was chipped and too aged to be used ever again. He wielded the eyes of a hero- a hero that's long since been lost to the sands of time.

The village he once protected was no more, only flames and ruin conquer this once lively home. The blonde had a blank face drawn on by pain and sorrow. When tears formerly ran down his face and left a trail, dirt smudged across his cheeks and hair. In his arms, he carried a red-headed girl in bronze, her head tucked into the crook of his neck, and body unmoving. Weapons of swords, spears, guns and shields were scattered about the battlefield.

All he could do now, was to look up at the ashy skies and the strange head wearing that of a mask that stared down upon him. He was a soldier. The one in his arms was a soldier, his battle partner. But where would he tread now? This was the last push they were to have of this war, but at what cost? He had no strength to carry on, there was no inspiration in him any longer to move forward.

Why did he bother to stay?

To up and leave was easy, as most people would say. Yet, his mind refused while his body wanted to give up.

The blonde gazes up at the dragon's head that remained just above him, as looking at it's entire being, the dragon of scaley white and red features with blackness taking up its flesh watched him. It didn't engage any hostile activity, or even move. Its enormous size taking up the rest of his front view as the blonde blankly stared with sadness.

It asked him a question. He answered it.

He questioned it.

It answered back.

 **:: ! ::**

She felt a nudge against her side, jolting her awake and staring at the front of the classroom wide-eyed, "Hwuzzah! I'm awake, all clear, no Grimm, take-off!" Ruby blurted out sporadically and then blinked, realizing where she was.

Her partner could only sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose, shaking her head disappointingly, "We're in _class_ , you dolt. Pay attention. You fell asleep again."

"Eugh, but it's so hard to pay attention with all of Professor Port's ramblings…" Ruby smashed her forehead against the desk, not noticing the others that were laughing at her expense, "How are _you_ not falling asleep, Weiss?"

"Unlike _you_ , I am well trained for everything. Dealing with a professional's constant sputterings is something natural." She hmph'd proudly, crossing her legs and arms as she leaned back against her seat.

The silver-eyed girl rose her head and simply gave Weiss a deadpanned look, "You fall asleep all the time in Professor Oobleck's though."

"W-what? No I don't!"

"She's right. You do." Blake had suddenly added in, causing Weiss to look around Ruby and glare.

"Where did _you_ come in?!"

The resident faunus rested her cheek against her palm as she multi-tasked boredly, "I took the volunteer route to join the conversation and help out Ruby. That's all." She gestures to her side, "Besides, Yang's passed out."

Both Ruby and Weiss took the privilege to look around Blake, finding the brawler sprawled out across the desk. Snoring and drooling all over.

The red reaper spared a look to Professor Port. This conversation that he was having now- rather than his usual rambling- apparently was something that caught her interest.

"Every individual with a soul will have a special trait to them. A 'semblance'. There are those who unlock it earlier at a young age, or perhaps unlock it when they're older. The oldest one can be to definitely unlock their semblance is atleast their teens."

"What if there's someone who doesn't have one?" A background student asked.

The professor retorted with a laugh, "That would mean that character would have no aura- not even a soul in them! Everyone has a semblance and aura, it is virtually impossible to come across someone without such!" Professor Port would lean against his desk, folding his hands together and looking to the entirety of the class.

"There is a report due next Monday about dragon-type Grimm, so be prepared to present them by the time it happens!" Professor Port looked at the clock hanging above the chalkboard, "You all may use the rest of your time to collaborate with your comrades and anything relevant to the subject." The professor sat at his desk, pulling out a manilla folder as he got to some paperwork.

Ruby's eyes shone at the possibility of a group collaboration, perking her head up and grinning madly, "Team project about the report after Professor Oobleck's! No one go anywhere else unless it's for-" The bell at that moment.

"-lunch!" She poofed, vanishing from sight and leaving nothing but a trail of roses. Weiss and Blake look at one another, shaking their head at the same time. Yang's head perked up, her left eye half-lidded while the other remained just as wide, drool hanging off the corner of her mouth, "Eh? Wha? No Grimm, take-off. Egggggh." Forehead, meet desk. Desk, meet forehead.

 _Thud_.

 **:: $ ::**

"I find it most productive that we all go study in the library, where there's _peace_ and _quiet_ ," Weiss said, crossing her arms as the team walked down the corridor. Ruby idly hummed to herself, trying to remember what it was that specifically got her interested about dragon-based Grimm to begin with. Sure, there was the sea-type dragon Grimm, but there were surely a few others she wanted to know about.

"It'll be noisy in there, considering all the people that also have the same report due, Weiss." Blake had said with a small book in hand for her to read.

"We have four days, it'll be a piece of cake! Let's just go out somewhere and have some fun, plenty of time to kill-"

"Oh no you don't! Remember the _last_ report we had to do and you decided to procrastinate on?! You were lucky you even made away with a dead 'C'!" The resident ice queen scolded with a hateful glare in her eyes.

"Well… there's always the library I tend to go to whenever there's a lot of people. But that means we'll need an airship to Vale." The faunus closed her book for once, going through her scroll, "Says it's open until midnight, so maybe we can finish up the report in one go?"

Yang groaned in the background while Weiss contemplated it, "We could. I wouldn't mind that at all, gives us Friday and the weekend to relax afterward."

Ruby smiled, shrugging to her team, "We all agree on this?"

The WBY of RWBY all nod conclusively.

It wasn't long until they arrived in Vale after taking the airship that the four walked around the streets, Blake leading the way to the library she spoke of before. But as she lead on, the rest would find gradual change in how lively Vale was and slowly becoming quieter and quieter with less people. Ruby shuddered, "Blake, are you sure we're going the right way?"

She received a sigh in response, "Yes, I'm sure. It may look rather sketchy, but the library I'm talking about is rather rich in resources and books. It's not that far guys, come on."

The faunus kept leading the way until they all arrived infront of a three-story building. Examining the other buildings, Ruby found that this building was the tallest one out of all the other ones. At the front of it was a sign with a corner being chipped off.

 _'A Good Read'_

"What kind of name is that?" Yang chuckled, receiving a glare from Blake. Leaving Yang to stop and thin her lips into a flat line. Getting the gist of 'shut up'.

Team RWBY entered, as to the three of them's surprise, the library itself was brighter than it looked on the outside. A nicely lit building on the inside with a spiral staircase in the center, leading all the way up to the third floor where the library was filled with a nearly infinite abundance of books and shelves. There were spaced out areas where soft bean bags were placed with couches and coffee tables.

"Neat, they have vending machines here?!" Yang blurted out loudly, Weiss immediately slapping her on the back of the head and putting an index finger infront of her lips. "Oops. Sorry." The blonde blushed, ducking her head a little lower.

There didn't seem to be anyone here, even at the desk. Ruby glanced to where Yang recently said something about vending machines. "Woah." Ruby muttered, walking over to the vending machines that actually did exist. Looking up to the sign above it, it said _'Eating Area'_. She assumed that this care-free library had a dedicated spot where people could eat and read at the common place.

"Where's the owner of the library..?" Weiss asked as she walked around the library, taking in the various sections there were. Yang eyed the food inside of the vending machine, shrugging, "Dunno, but the library is chill as heck."

"He might be around here, it's a big library and rarely anyone comes here. I always did wonder how he managed to keep it up most of the time if there's not much activity going on." The B of RWBY selected a few books from a nearby shelf that was relevant to their report project, "He's familiar with me though, so he shouldn't have a problem if you guys are my friends."

"You sound like you know him really well, Blakey~."

Blake walked over casually, pinching the blonde on the bridge of the nose, hard enough to force Yang on her knees, "Shut it, you."

"Okay okay, uncle, uncle!"

Weiss sighed at their antics. The heiress settled down at a table and opened a few books, blinking as she went through their content, "Odd, this library actually has books older than the ones at Beacon. This one dates back to atleast half a century ago. Even the pages are a little chipped, even though books these old would've been a total ruin."

"I can only guess that he _tries_ to keep all of the books intact," Yang added, "There's atleast two million books here… must be pretty patient with cleaning all these books on his own."

Ruby took a seat on the other side of the table, flipping through a book to find rough sketches of the Grimm. Finding more than just what she aimed for, she also found other various Grimm that she's never heard of. An Endilker? What was that? It looked more of a deerish kind of Grimm with incredibly long antlers that were… on fire?

"Ruby, are you paying attention?"

"Huh? Say what?" Ruby blinked several times and looked to her partner, "Sorry Weiss, this book has a lot of Grimm I've never heard of."

Weiss leaned over the table to look down at the book's contents, "What do you mean you never heard of? We've went over every kind of existing Grimm there is in Professor Oobleck's…" Her words trailed off, the Heiress actually perking a brow and questioning what she was seeing, "A Caporo?" She mutters, sitting back down in her seat and shaking her head, "Clearly, that's just some kid's make-up Grimm. Now come on, we have some work to do."

Yang and Ruby internally groan at the stacks of books Blake let slam down onto the table.

She felt eyes cast upon her. Like some unphysical presence, she felt it. Rejecting to shudder, the silver-eyed huntress turned her head halfly to the staircase. Finding no one there, or anyone at all within the library entirely other than her and her team. It was then that Ruby felt something thwaking her hand, "Ow!"

Weiss glared at her, holding her pencil up and wagging it towards Ruby, "Study, you!"

 **:: # ::**

Yang fell dead asleep on the desk.

Weiss's head was just dozing off as she tried to stay awake.

Blake wasn't even putting mind to their work anymore, Ruby already knew she was reading her usual novel, just within the cover of one of the other books.

Ruby got up, groaning and yawning as she stretched briefly, "Hey guys, I think it's time we headed back. It's getting dark and we don't want to miss the last airship."

The heiress nonverbally agreed, giving a nod and standing up while packing up her things and shutting some of the books closed, "Wha- (yawn)- What are you going to do about Yang?" Blake shut her book, "I don't think I can carry her…"

"Don't worry about it," Ruby said, clearing some concerns, "I'll wake her up in a few minutes. You guys go ahead back."

"Are you sure, Ruby? Yang's a mess when it comes to wake-up calls. Especially in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, I can handle my big sister." Ruby smiled at her sister's sleeping state, "Besides, studying takes a lot out of us. All of us finished our reports, well, except for Yang."

"Have some faith in Ruby, Weiss, other than that, we'll be heading out. See you back at the room, Ruby." Blake tucked away her novel and started out for the door, Weiss also giving a wave, "Be sure to call me on the Scroll if anything happens."

Ruby nodded back and heard the door close behind them. Spending one more glance to Yang, she went off to find the bathroom. Taking a tour of the library's deeper depths and seeing what kind of categories it had. It spanned from fairy tales and a plethora of theory books on Grimm. It seemed like every single book in the world was just crammed into a measly space of three floors.

Eventually finding the bathroom, the reaper washed her face with water briefly and walked out. Ruby rose an eyebrow. When did the lights turn off?

Taking precautious steps forward, she found light, but from a different source. Looking up, she never had actually realized that the center of the library's ceiling was glass, which allowed the moonlight to fill the building naturally. In the center with it- right beside the spiral staircase- a sakura tree, a mother to leaves of pink. Each one magically reflecting light as if they were gemstones in the shape of leaves.

It felt as if the world was being unfolded right before her eyes, but three times as beautifully.

What is with this library?

To Ruby… the titled ' _Good Read'_ seemed to be an understatement.

Walking over to where Yang was, Ruby saw her half-sister still sleeping where she was, but a warm and cozy violet blanket was placed over her. A bunny-shaped pillow was placed right beneath the blonde's head. The books that were there originally were gone now, put back into their respective places.

 _'Someone's here..? Where?'_

She took one more gander of the environment. There wasn't anyone. She couldn't sense anyone at all other than Yang.

Treading to the front of the library of where the entrance was, her silver orbs focused upon someone who was standing outside. Watering some potted plants that were aligned along the outside walls of the library.

She couldn't make them out perfectly, considering how dark it was and that her eyes haven't perfectly adjusted to the darkness yet.

That's when she saw it.

The massive snakes that slithered across the street and after a younger girl that was screaming for help.

Ruby's immediate response was to draw her scythe, bursting out the front doors and rushing forward, only to stop as a wave of wind blew against her. Her eyes widened, her irises shrinking slightly…

Now across the street, a black jacketed man with faded jeans and converses had put both of his hands up, holding the King Taijitu by their fangs and stopping their forward advance. The girl behind him was turned around, staring at his back with terror.

The man seemed to be in his teenage years in terms of age, as their sapphire eyes focus intently upon the Grimm preying on the girl. Blond locks of hair blowing along the wind as well as his hoodie. From where the King Taijitu was, the ground was cracking apart along with walls belonging to some of the buildings.

The moon was re-mending itself.

It was that day, that Ruby met a stranger at the library.


	2. The Stranger That Made Me A Hero

**He accepted death, but death wouldn't accept him.**

The blond gritted his teeth and grimaced, holding his ground against the power of the King Taijitu, "Hurry up and… go!"

He was speaking to someone that wasn't her- he was addressing the younger girl that was scared out of her wits right now. Ruby quickly took the advance to zip across the street and creating a trail of roses. She reaches her hand out, quickly grabbing the child and bringing her a safe distance away.

The brunette glanced back to where the blond was, spectating as the King Taijitu heads slammed the teen into a nearby wall, causing the building to crack. Ruby charged at the Grimm, jumping over the head that crashed into the ground in an attempt to attack her. With the other head closing in on her position, she brought down the bottom end of Crescent Rose upon the snake's nose, vaulting over the King Taijitu and landing abruptly on its scales.

Ruby slashed at the scales as she ran along its body, trying to make some kind of carving to the very least with no avail. _'How tough is it's scales?!'_ Her silver eyes trailed to both heads of white and black. They hissed audibly at her, their maws targetting her when they lunged again. She got herself into the air to jump over and aim Crescent Rose's rifle form down, firing bullet after bullet to atleast penetrate through some of it's armoring.

The King Taijitu hissed at her when raising their heads and glaring down upon her with malicious intent. By the time Ruby landed on the ground, the silver pair of orbs shifted between her scroll and the Grimm itself. To her, calling backup wasn't a bad idea about now. Weiss and Blake may still be nearby within the city, hopefully. If not, maybe some enforcers or nearby hunters that could answer her distress beacon.

Ruby focused on the library, remembering that Yang was still in there. Surely, with enough noise, her half-sister would wake up conveniently? A shadow loomed over her, Ruby soon realizing her mistake of spending too much time to think rather than act. The huntress instinctively lifted Crescent Rose and braced herself when catching glimpse of the two heads aiming to bite down on her, soon feeling a dense liquid splatter across her face.

But for some reason, she didn't feel the pain.

Silver eyes widened when seeing the blond from earlier standing infront of her. Defending her from the King Taijitu's attack, which meant allowing the entirety of his right arm becoming chomped down on by the Grimm. His other arm was used to grab the other head by… the eye? His fingertips were literally sunken into the underside of the eyelids.

An aim so precise that his hand was _actually_ holding the white Taijitu head like it was a ball. The blond yanked his left arm back towards him and gorishly tore the eye from the eye-socket, sending the two heads reeling back and hissing in agony. Blood was flooding out of the eye-socket that was previously affected. Despite his conditions, the blond kept his gaze upon the Grimm as he verbally addressed her, "… You alright? Let's hurry up and get rid of this thing. I'm getting a little tired of seeing it's face."

She could see it, those wounds. They were as clear as day, his blood reflected by the moonlight. His blood rivered down his right arm from where the fangs left their mark. Some of it was smudged into the tips of his hair, the darkened pool on the back of his jacket most likely being blood that was absorbed by the hoodie's material. Over his right eye was a thick river of blood coming down from his forehead and forcing him to shut that eye. It must've been caused when he was slammed into the wall.

Ruby blinked at the stranger, but soon joined by his side and aimed Crescent Rose to fixate on one of the heads, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm trained for this, afterall!" She spared one more look through the corner of her eyes to take in his features, making out the two scars across his left face that was nearly touching his eye.

"It's not polite to stare." He said, leaving the brunette slightly unsure as to how to take it, hostile or not. Ruby shook her head, her lips quivering as she nodded apologetically.

"I've dealt with the white one, you take over for it. I'll grab the black one and hold it still long enough for you to kill off one part of it."

"Hold it?" Ruby frowned and fired, a bullet bouncing off a scale, "What do you mean? That thing's way too big for someone to hold down, you don't even have a weapon and you're wounded." The girl fretted in worry, eyeing the blond who managed to give off a friendly grin, "… I won't these things hinder me."

That sounded like a promise.

One day, she felt like she'd end up regretting this. Ruby slammed her scythe's blade into the ground as support, firing shell after shell as her magazine cartridge emptied out. Quickly shifting inbetween ice and fire cartridges, the reaper kicked up and forward to seize the white head by digging Crescent Rose's tip into the edge of one gray carapace found at the head.

There wasn't any time to send concerns to the stranger that indirectly offered teaming up on the Grimm, Ruby stepped up to maintain her balance and aimed down to the point the barrel of her scythe was pressed roughly against the head, "I got it!" Her finger pulled back on the trigger and forced it to flail about wildly. Throwing the crimson reaper aside.

Its shrieking stopped suddenly by a gurgling sound that Ruby couldn't comprehend. Looking up, it came as both shock and awe at the sight of the white head _swallowing_ it's black half almost entirely somehow- for some reason. There the blond was, standing with both arms crossed and seeming rather satisfied with the victory. Standing there and watching whilst the Grimm dissipated.

"You should go." He stated calmly, unwilling to turn and face her, "Your 'sister' should be waking up right now."

"What?" Ruby's head slightly rose in curiosity, turning her head and finding Yang bursting through the library doors with Ember Cecilia fully unleashed around her arms.

"Ruby, I heard gunshots and fighting going on outside! What happened?!" The blonde brawler paused at the sight of the dissipating King Taijitu, who soon transitioned to Ruby, "… Did… you do this alone?"

"N-no… he did." The brunette pointed towards the other blond that was accompanying her.

" 'He'? Who?" Yang examined the streets to find noone but the young girl and the dead Grimm.

"Him-" Or so she thought. Ruby gave a full 360 to look for the blond… who was gone from sight, "… where'd he go?"

 **:: $ ::**

"Ruby, are… you alright?" Blake's bow twitched when glancing over the top rim of her novel, "You look… _tired_."

"I… I don't understand…" The leader of RWBY rested her head in her arms as they sat at the cafeteria table, dark bags under her eyelids, "He was there for a _second_ and… then he was _gone._ "

It was last night since the conquering of the King Taijitu. The events that followed after the victory was the police arriving at the scene and questioning what had happened. She gave them the information about the King Taijitu that attacked a young girl running down the street, but she excluded details about how there was a blond boy that very same night. Yang claims she's been daydreaming a lot- well, technically ' _nightdreaming_ ' since it was night, but whatever- and might've been going nuts over some loss of sleep. She blames Yang for that joke.

Also that she's had enough sleep the day before, thank you.

"What's happened has happened, Ruby. You have your report done atleast," Weiss stated intellectually when cutting her steak with a knife, using a fork to hold it in place. What she _didn't_ notice was how Ruby's eyes were slowly widening at that point, "So by the time Monday comes, we'll all be up and ready. Well, aside from Yang, who fell asleep in the middle-"

Weiss, Blake and Yang reel back from the table and stared at Ruby with perked brows.

"My report! I entirely forgot it at the library! I have to go get it!" Right in the moment she was about to speed off, her partner snatched her wrist and tugged her back, scowling at her.

"You dunce, you can't just go _leave_ in the middle of a school day, Ruby! You'd be late for class- or worse, get caught for skipping school!"

"B-but my report..!" Her lips quivered while tears built up in the corner of her eyes, giving the puppy-adorned look.

Blake took the moment to intrude, laying down her book and glancing inbetween the all of them, "Maybe the librarian will find it and keep it stored safely for you by the time you get there?"

Both R and W of the team stare at Blake, leaving the Faunus to become unnerved at the attention she was getting from the two, "U-uh, what?"

"She could be right," Yang added in a bit later, chomping down on a strawberry, "Why not? You got 'nough time, just go over there and check if it's still there."

"This is a surprise, coming from _you_ of all people. You didn't even finish _half_ of your report." The heiress crossed her arms and eyesquinted at the brawler accusingly.

Yang whimpered down in her seat and nervously eyeshifted, "P-psh… I-I'll have it done.. _._ " A lightbulb went off above her head, causing her to snap her fingers and grin maliciously, "… _One-_ day." The three stare at her blankly, "Get it? Because it's due on _Mon_ day? Ha-ha, ho-reh?"

Three forehead meeting the table caused the food and eating utensils to jump, followed by audible groans. The corner of Yang's smile twitched, "… A'ight."

"Anyways," Weiss lifted herself back up and glanced to Ruby, "You said that you were fighting a King Taijitu that night with that one man? How on Remnant did a King Taijitu sneak into Vale without anyone noticing? That's impossible."

The girl in question pondered, scratching her chin, "I… don't know about that either, but we defeated it and saved a little girl that was unfortunate enough to get chased by it. She's alright now, she was taken in by the authority when they arrived at the scene."

"Look at my lil' sis though, fought off Torchwick and his goons, then off saving little kids from the demise-bringing eyes of Grimm. People recognize you as a prodigy you know, maybe one day you'll add more to that title." Yang grinned ear to ear, resting her cheek against her knuckles.

"Psh, as if." Ruby rolled her eyes, then noticed the looks on the rest of her teammates' faces as they stared up behind Ruby. She felt an eyebrow raise, "Uh, hello? Remnant to team? Am I even here right now?" She waved a hand infront of all their eyes, "Guuuuuys?"

Unanswered, the huntress paid focus to what the rest of her team was watching. Which was the television mounted on the wall of the cafeteria. Playing on it, the news with Lisa Lavender, the thumbnail photo on the top right had a street and a zoom-in of a wall with a web of cracks on it. It seemed… _familiar_ to her.

"-as we're told from the victim of the King Taijitu that attacked, she was saved by a huntress that was most likely from Beacon Academy and miraculously came across this young girl and her unfortunate events. This young girl turns out to have been a daughter of a high-class family along the central regions of Vale, as her family is willing to award the huntress that saved her that night. Police have taken a sketch of her description, and based off it, most people claim it looks like a huntress by the name of-"

 _'Oh no.'_ Ruby's eyes furrowed together in concern _, 'Please don't say it-'_

"-Ruby Rose."

Immediately, she felt hundreds of eyes fall on her, leaving the prodigy to sweatdrop and cower, _"…_ Oum save me."

 **:: % ::**

The entire school day went by with how people began to praise and root for Ruby. Despite doing one good thing, she was being held up with the title of a 'hero'. She never asked for this! All this attention is suffocating her! What would Uncle Qrow do?!

The next image that flashed across her mind was her uncle holding up a metallic flask with some dirt-eating grin on his face.

 _'No thank you.'_ The huntress buried her face into her pillow and let out a muffled scream. The rest of her team went out to do some afterschool activities while she herself was stuck being alone in the room. Ruby didn't feel like going out _now at all_. Not with everyone out there waiting to who-knows-what when they see her.

The silver eyes focus on the clock that ticked at the far side of the room. She found herself waiting an agonizingly long time that felt like forever, waiting until her team would come back and save her from _this suffering._ A sigh came out of her lips, standing up from her bed and strolled to the desk to read over some of the papers laying there.

She found Blake and Weiss's reports sitting there, Yang's was halfway done, the last letter trailing off into a disgusting and heavy-lead squiggle that went as far down as the page did. She probably fell asleep writing that. The report she wrote wasn't there. Mainly because she remembered that it might've been left at the library.

Ruby's head lifted up slightly to stare in wonder at the ceiling, recalling what had happened the day before. The tree within the library that reflected the moonlight majestically, the blond who was watering the plants infront of the library, how he saved the child from the fangs of a King Taijitu.

Focusing on the hanger in the corner, she noticed Yang's 'Achieve Men' hat. With it, her aviator shades _. 'It's worth a shot.'_ She told herself, disappearing into a trail of roses and grabbing the two items, going as quickly as the door suddenly went shut the next second with noone left in the room.

"Hey Ruby, looks like they cancelled today's meeting- Ruby?" Yang entered the room and looked around for her sibling. Her attention span didn't reach as far as to recognize the rose petals Ruby had left behind.

It was by that time that Ruby had already boarded a bullhead to head back to Vale, cautious enough to keep on her hat and shades to prevent anyone from recognizing her. The huntress felt _relieved_ , to say to the most. She spent a few cautious glances at everyone on the bullhead. No one seemed to be noticing her at all. Internally, she cried in victory.

When it docked, she was more than happy to speed out of that bullhead and away from all the civilians that were utterly confused about where all the petals were coming from.

She'd stop using her semblance when she reached one of the quieter streets. Sighing in relief while journeying to the library. If she was right, she'd remember the turns Blake took to get there. That was _if_. Unfortunately, this is Ruby we're talking about. She found herself wandering uncharted territory instead, some people made round abouts with hoodies pulled over their head and ragged clothing.

The reaper never knew that this side of Vale actually existed. She stopped in place, watching as a group of thugs strolled up to her with bats and gas pipes lounged over their shoulders. The huntress blinked, craning her neck slightly to look up at the thugs with question.

"Hey there, short stuff. Looking for a good time?"

"Why don't you come with us? We're cool guys, be one of us."

They all snickered, leaving the huntress to pout as she clearly understood their intent. Believe her, it was _not_ something to be listening to happily. One of them placed a hand on her shoulder without consent, causing her to swat aside the hand and glare at them through her shades, "Don't touch me."

"Oh boy, she's a feisty one. Why don't we teach her a lesson, boys?" They rose their bats and pipes, intimidatingly bouncing it off the palm of one hand. Ruby reached a hand back to rest it on the side of Crescent Rose, readying for oncoming danger at any given moment.

One rose their pipe, bringing it down on her head in an arc as they attempted to bash her head in. She blinked, feeling the cold metallic surface of her creation. Instead of fully drawing her weapon, someone with a black hoodie over their head stopped the momentum of the pipe with their left hand. Leaving nothing but tension to increase in the air when signs of hostility silenced the entire neighborhood, even halting cars involuntarily.

 _Thunk!_

"… I think… you all have had a long day and would like some sleep in a nice comfortable bed." The voice said coldly, leaving all of the hoodlums to shudder and backpedal several paces. It even caused a huntress- Ruby- to shudder at the tone. What caught the girl's focus the most was the fact his right arm was in a cast, but somehow he still intimidated the all of them.

"Y-yeah…"

"Comfortable… bed… would like that very much."

"W-we were just going, ain't that right, boys?"

Ruby stared at the back of her protector's head, perking a brow at the mysterious stranger that saved her from having a public fight amongst civilians.

"Good. Now run along, you all." As if they were ordered to do, they _ran_ away. Some stumbling over the cracks in the sidewalks, but managing otherwise. Ruby exhaled in relief and looked up to her protector, "Thank you. I was afraid I was going to get into a fight with them."

"… Tends to happen. You should be careful when you wander into parts of Vale like this place. Besides, you're lucky they didn't notice who you were."

He turned around to gaze down at Ruby with an azure iris that seemed to _glow_ through the shade of his hoodie. She remembered that blonde hair and that eye. The same teen from last night during the fight with the King Taijitu. This time, there was an eyepatch covering his right eye.

A sigh came out of him while he scratched the back of his head, "I know you got a lot to ask of me, but first, let's get out of here. We made quite a ruckus here."

 **:: ^ ::**

" _You're_ the owner of this library?"

Here they were, sitting in the _Good Read_ library. She wasn't aware that they even had a café-esque area of the library. Right now, the huntress sat on a wooden stool, leaning her arms against the wooden counter. The blond stood on the other side, preparing a mug of coffee and glass cup with his jacket's sleeves rolled up.

"Is that a surprise?"

"Well… yes?" She thanked him quietly as she was offered a glass of milk. With a few sips, the huntress found herself marvelling at the various types of coffee beans, mixes and teas there were placed behind the glass panels of the counter behind the blond.

"Now you know. But seriously, what were you thinking, wandering into a neighborhood like that?" The blond had at first put up a friendly grin prior to it turning into a light scowl. With him setting down his mug of coffee was just the first sign of how intimidating he seemed, as the air felt even colder than usual, "I know you're a huntress and all, but you should really be more aware of your surroundings."

She nearly choked on her drink, wiping her lips and putting down her glass, "I-I…" Pouting, she let both of her index fingers poke at eachother, "I wanted to come _here_ but… got lost?"

The librarian now had an expression somewhere along the lines of: 'How did you get lost in a neighborhood with only one three-story building?'

"I… see then." He sighed, but it didn't sound like disappointment. More like relief. The blond smiled at her, shrugging, "Atleast you aren't hurt."

Ruby blinked. That's it? He wasn't going to scold her or anything? Just because she was alright was enough for him? The reaper wielded more questions now about the stranger.

"So, why were you looking for this place? Maybe it's for this?" He reached into his pocket, taking out a wrinkled-up folded paper that had 'Ruby Rose' entitled on the top line of it.

"I've been looking for that!" She unconsciously snatched it from his hands, beaming in gratitude and reading it over to second-check that it was hers, "Thank you so much!"

The enigmatic male chuckles, "No problem, 'Ruby'. Glad I could help."

"That's not fair. You know my name, but I don't know yours…" The reaper cupped her hands around the glass, looking down at its content, "I also didn't sense any aura in you when that fight with the King Taijitu happened… that's too dangerous to risk, why did you do that? Why did you fight it?"

"…" The blond pondered what answer he'd give to her, only finishing his coffee and then putting it in the sink to clean, "For one… my name's Jaune. I fought it because… well, it looked like someone needed help." He put up a sheepish grin as this 'Jaune' put his mug on the drying rack.

"It was nice of you to help the little girl…" Ruby smiled back lightly, which soon became a light frown, "Though… why didn't you get any of the credit on the news?"

Jaune waved his hand in the air and acted as if he were slightly annoyed of the topic, "I don't want to be a hero. I don't want to get recognized. If I did, this library wouldn't be much of a library, would it? Even if so, if I'm titled a hero for one simple thing, then there should be dozens of other people out there in Vale being called the same thing. I'm just some guy who was at the wrong place at the right time."

The blond librarian pulled over a stool and sat down, shrugging to the huntress, "Mainly, it focuses on the hunters out there to save people from the hands of Grimm… I'm not exactly a 'hunter'," He admitted nonchalantly, "Sorry to put everything on you, but I made a deal to the kid we saved to not mention me at all."

Ruby internally felt confused, but at the same time, it was understandable, "Well, what deal did you make with her?"

Jaune snorted, "A deal she couldn't refuse. A twinkie."

"…"

She couldn't tell if he was serious or not, all she could do was stare at him with a dumbfounded expression that soon became a burst of laughter. Trying hard to hold back her laughter, she rose her hand to her mouth and recoiled, shaking her head, "No way!"

"Yep. It worked."

"T-that's so ridiculous..!" Ruby slammed a palm against the table, "Oh _Oum_ that's… that's just absurd."

The librarian reached under the table, taking out a bag of cookies that he'd offer to the reaper, "Here. Cookies?"

Ruby's smile went as far as going ear-to-ear, nodding and rapidly ate the cookies at bullet-speed, leaving Jaune to perk a brow and chuckle at the sight, "Also, that report you're writing about… I think you could add a little more to it. Sorry for reading it while you were out, but I couldn't help but notice it was about dragons. So I thought I'd help you out a bit."

"R-really?!" The huntress asked with a mouthful of cookies, "You'd do that?!"

The librarian picked up a thick book with sticky notes and slips of paper sticking out if its edges, "Yeah, it's been a while since I've spoken about these kind of Grimm. I also haven't had a friendly conversation like this for almost a year or two. How about it?" The blond took out some paper and a pencil, opening the book and viewing through its first page of content. Writing so microscopic that Ruby could've sworn Weiss would've gone mad just trying to _read_ it.

Gulp. "… Definitely!" The prodigy finished her last bit of cookie and picked up the pencil, Jaune guiding her through the details and what specific parts of a dragon there were. Some she's honestly never heard of! As the day went on to almost night, she had practically written three pages of her report in under five hours, which she found pretty astounding for herself in terms of writing.

When she thought she'd lose interest immediately when writing this report, she'd eventually find interesting with the aid of Jaune- the librarian slash enigmatic blond.

A grin was always put on her lips, just like Jaune had on his. By the time she had to get back, he walked with her to the bullhead and wave her off as she departed for Beacon. Her face would meet the pillow minutes after the events, unaware of the pair of eyes that trained on the slumbering huntress.

 **:: & ::**

"As usual, good job on your report, Miss Schnee! An A with a 100% written boldly for you." Professor Port put it down infront of her, Weiss giving her signature smug smirk and crossing her arms. Blake having gotten the same grade as her, to her fortune. On the unfortunate side though… Yang got away with a B. A _low_ one at 81%.

"Miss Xiao Long, as much as I know you procrastinate on your work, I feel obligated to informing you that dragon Grimm do _not_ originate from the moon." A groan from the Y of RWBY.

As Professor Port came to Ruby's desk, she noticed how his eyebrows went up highly and how he looked astonished at the stack he held in his hands. Without even normally putting the report down, he spared Ruby a glance, "… Miss Rose, I am to inform you that this report… has left me in _awe_."

Everyone tuned their focus onto Ruby at that note with the professor continuing, "Not in my _life_ have I ever met a hunter or huntress that has known _more_ about dragon-Grimm than I! I envy your knowledge about them, Miss Rose! This report has also contributed much to hunting of them for us to further know about these creatures of Grimm!" He put down her report, Ruby's eyes widening to the size of plates at the grade to see the plus sign beside her A, and the percentage… Weiss broke inside.

150%.

"You truly are a prodigy of this hunter's generation. Well _done_ , lass."

Everyone within the classroom stared in disbelief at the prodigy.

Ruby could only stare at the report she wrote and the absurd grade she received in the end.


	3. The Stranger That Saved Me

**He lived only as a legend, a hero, and a mourner.**

Jaune- the librarian- was nothing other than a teen who organized books and let people borrow them. Some books were given by others as a gift, some of them were his own, a majority being collected from all over across the world or found from his past of journeying. The blond sat on a step of the spiral staircase, admiring at the sakura tree that rested in the center of the library. It was a sense of 'being one with nature', he never minded it. Many others didn't seem to either, especially Blake.

A phantom pain in his bandaged right arm caused him to wince. He recalled that fight with the King Taijitu and that red-hooded huntress who partnered up with him on the occasion. What had stricken him most was the familiarity of that red cape. A sigh left the blond's lips, who later stood up and made his way down the stair steps.

"Familiar, Jaune?" The woman asked as she sat on the railing, head turned to look upon the tree itself. She let her leather-gloved hands to rest on the steel bars of where she sat, smile etched across her face.

The librarian stopped, but didn't bother to turn to face her. His eyes focused forward, his lips pursed into a tight line, "… Very." He admitted, the aching in his heart causing him to glance down and lightly sink his fingers into his chest of where his heart should've been, "Though, I suppose it's just me…"

Jaune's azure eyes soon tuned to the ground between his feet, his head halfly turned to see the woman that addressed him, "This pain simply never leaves me, does it, Pyrrha?"

Of crimson hair that flowed through the air like water, a bronze circlet wrapped around her head, emerald shining eyes then exchange eye-contact with the blond, "One day… it will leave you, Jaune." Pyrrha leaned off of the railing to descend down the steps, sliding her hand across the steel surface, "You're strong. I know you are."

The red-headed was smiling. Smiling with sorrow. Yet those soft, gentle eyes that she offered to him never gave sign of hardening or hopelessness, "Do you still remember?" Pyrrha folded her hands behind her back and walked up behind him, tilting her head.

"Of course I do. I always do." Jaune lifted his head again to see the wall in the distance, "There's not a single day that I don't remember it." The blond moved his uninjured hand into the pocket of his hoodie, shutting his eyes and lightly breathing, "That day… made me who I am now."

"…" He was met with silence, Pyrrha only having wrapped her around his shoulders from behind and resting her head against his back. Despite what the sadness brought, she could only smile. This is what she wanted, "I believe in you, Jaune."

There was no response from him. There was no distinct features on his face that paved way for emotions to easily be expressed. Jaune walked onward, Pyrrha gone. There were no arms hugging his neck, there was no woman within the library.

And once again, Jaune was left to himself.

 **:: * ::**

The week's proven a little _too_ eventful for her tastes. What happened exactly?

Glad you asked.

Just yesterday, it was to her surprise- and everyone else's- that she had actually managed to score more than just a simple '100' on Professor Port's report, but she apparently contributed unknown information that later proved helpful to future hunters to use. So guess what happened after that.

Other students started noticing her more- even to the point some were even bold to try and start a conversation with her. She'll admit, she wanted friends before, but not this many friends. Ruby's practically befriended half of the entire school by now! The huntress sighed, pouting and slouching forward mid-stride. There were even worse problems.

"Cardin's bothering you again?" Ruby's blonde sister inquired with a low growl in her tone. The sisters were walking down the corridor to head to Professor Oobleck's during the intermission of classes.

Ruby enjoyed her sister's company and concern for the very most. She gave off a sigh, "… Yeah. But I can put up with it, don't worry about it, sis! He'll give up eventually!"

"Ruby," Yang's sight sharpened unto Ruby, stating the red huntress's name with exaggeration, "This is Cardin we're talking about. The local bully of the weak and resident Faunus despiser?" The two focus upon Cardin and his team while they passed by, watching as they began tossing around a backpack with an unfortunate victim acting as the monkey in the middle.

"See?"

"Yang, seriously, I'm a big girl now! I can deal with this stuff!" Ruby beamed at Yang, clutching her books close to her chest, "He just goes around claiming that he's awesome and whatever."

"-and makes claims that he's the 'best boyfriend material' for you and how the 'prodigy of Beacon' should totally date him." The brawler rolled her eyes.

"Ehhh," Nope. Really couldn't deny that. Ruby shrugs, "I know, but I promise, I'll do something about it gets on my nerves."

"-or if it goes too far." Once again, the blonde interjected with worry. Ruby sighs, entering a large classroom and seating herself at a desk. The familiar green-haired professor didn't seem to be in the classroom yet as everyone else settled in. Blake had a free period this time around while Weiss attended an economics class. Ruby never did figure out why they involved economics into an academy full of hunters. Must be variety.

"So do you plan on going back to that library to see 'him'?" Yang questioned with a cheeky smirk on her lips, wiggling her eyebrows. The red-head blankly stared at her sister prior to throwing a pencil at her face and getting a faint 'hey!' from the blonde.

"No… not that I plan to." Ruby said with uncertainty, her eyes trained on the notes and report displayed across her desk. The huntress mainly owed it to the librarian that she even made this kind of status- but at the same time, to her misfortune for all the attention received. Ruby always did wonder what he was up to, eyeing every letter and mentally read over all the writing. It even shocked her that nothing that she got from Jaune's library was recorded or even known by the professors themselves.

'Am I just thinking about it too much?'

"Hey, Ruby, you there? Hello, Remnant to Ruby?"

She blinked, snapping back into reality, "Huh? Whazzah?" The crimson reaper blinked at Yang several times in confusion, leaving Yang to perk a brow and point a finger at her.

"So you were thinking about him!"

The red huntress felt the heat rising to her cheeks, shaking her head rapidly, "N-no! I was just-"

The front door leading to the teacher's desk swung open, silencing everyone within the room. Ruby let off a sigh of relief. Saved by the door. Literally. Walking out of the door with the spiked-up green hair and round glasses was none other than 'Doctor' Oobleck. (No, not professor.) One side of his button-up was untucked, the other being tucked. Weiss did always have an imaginary OCD fit about this.

Arriving at his desk, the doctor stood infront of his desk with an audible inhale, "Goodafternoonscholarsandhuntersofall,todaywearegoingoverpastartifactsandlegendsofRemnantandwherethereistoknowofthem!"

Yang and Ruby's lips tightened into a flat line and a blank look, accompanied by a pout from the both of them. To them, it was the same old, same old, as they put it. The verbal machine-gun instructor began firing out sentence after sentence per second, never stopping a single time for breath. This was natural. Ruby tried to keep up while Yang fell into the abysses of sleep. Leaving only the silver-eyed huntress to atleast attempt and focus upon the instructor. She tried really hard to ignore those stares she was getting from the other students that spared glances at her.

 _'… This is pretty unnerving.'_ Ruby mentally stated to herself. She felt something soft bounce off her shoulder and then roll onto her desk, finding a crumpled up ball of paper. One eyebrow arched up and a hand reached out to open it up, revealing the drawing of a dead Major Ursa with x's over the eyes, the chestplated brute that held a mace up as they used the Ursa's head as a footstool, and then… a girl with a cape who held her hands up to her cheeks and had hearts for the eyes in the general direction of the chest-plated figure in the illustration.

It didn't even take her long to figure out who threw this note.

Well aware enough, Ruby didn't need to turn around to know that Cardin was boasting about his victories in Professor Goodwitch's class against other victims- ahem, pardon, 'opponents'. Mutterings and laughter were emitting from the back of the room where Cardin was most likely sitting, Ruby already figuring that he was probably bragging about how he could defeat a whole pack of Beowolves on his own bare-handed.

Not that she's actually seen it happen, that is.

Since the beginning of her status as a 'prodigy', the Winchester's always been on her back about being the greatest hunter of all times and how everyone should follow him. The way he treated her was as if he owned her. No, this Rose isn't owned by anyone. It'll stay that way.

Ruby's focus came back into the lesson, letting her understand the board up ahead. What she saw was something she least expected during her time here in Doctor Ooblecks' class. Which was Remnant's moon that she's known for so long. It was always shattered, pieces drifting off in space by the large portion it was missing.

The moon re-mended itself.

A sharp intake of breath caused her to bounce out of her usual inability to focus, attention immediately drawn to the window to see that the moon was still shattered. Yet, it was that night that Jaune appeared, and for some strange reason, the moon was repaired magically, as if nothing had happened to it at all. It was… terrifying? No… astonishing? There wasn't a description of her reaction to even place to it.

Doctor Oobleck continued his lesson, rambling on and on as to how the lesson required the image of the moon, as the last thing she could've gotten from his bullet-speech was 'deity of annihilation' and all that. Not that it's actually real, honestly.

The moon was still there, shattered as it always was. But why was it that one night that caused her to hallucinate like this? Where the moon was fully intact?

An image of Jaune's glowing eye from beneath the shade of his hoodie flashed through her mind. There was something that screamed danger and malignancy to her. If it were a true gut feeling though, wouldn't he have attacked her? His strength while fighting the King Taijitu with her was unnatural. The fact that he didn't feel like he didn't have any aura was a marvel all on it's own.

"-leaving now." Yang nudged Ruby's shoulder, forcing the younger huntress to snap out of it and perk a brow at Yang.

"What?"

"We're leaving now." Yang stated, wiping some drool off her mouth and packing her backpack, "You didn't hear the bells ring just now? You were awake longer than I was, you know." The brawler arched a brow at her stunned sister. Sighing, the Y of RWBY picked up her belongings and got going for the door, "Right, well, get it off your mind some time soon, sis. I gotta get going for detention with Professor Goodwitch. Who knew you could get in trouble for mixing fire dust with gunpowder?"

She chuckled, "Alright Yang, I'll see you back at the room." They both shared a fistbump with one another, leaving the classroom together shortly after. Ruby was left on her own for the rest of the day, granted she never did dedicate any time to doing afterschool activities to begin with.

Ruby stood at her locker, placing her belongings inside and eyeing the well-being of her creation- Crescent Rose. Eyes trailing the smooth metallic red theme it was colored with. 'I'll grow up to be the greatest huntress out there. Just wait.' A smile was brought to her face, but promptly wilted away when a large shadow overloomed her. Ruby glared at the locker door infront of her, quickly disguising it with a twitching smile when turning around and looking up to none other than Cardin Winchester.

A smug grin across his face, hand planted against her locker just beside her head. Behind him were his three other unbearable companions. Russel, Dove, Sky Lark. Each face holding the same filthy grin that compared easily to Cardin's own, "Sooooo little rosey, you and me got a date planned soon?" That sounded more like a statement that Ruby internally frowned to, "Me, the great Winchester, slayer of dozens of Grimm, strongest hunter in the academy. You, legend of Beacon, cute little huntress, totally hot. What do you say?"

The red huntress never did find interest in this… 'brute' as Weiss put it. "… No thanks." She brushed Cardin's hand off her locker door and pivoted to the right, walking away from him. Not even a single bother to looking at the growling and glaring face he had on him with his three companions trying to calm him down sensibly.

"Well… there's always next time, rosey." Cardin added snickering behind the sentence, still rather irritated by the fact that Ruby practically rejected him- despite all the other times she's rejected him, "… Always."

By the time team CRDL was out of the view, Ruby turned her head and frowned. It left an uneasy feeling within her gut about what he said. Though, this was just like all the other times this has happened, wasn't it?

She felt the need to head out of Beacon for a bit, getting some air wouldn't be a bad idea, would it?

Her first action was to get changed before heading out, mainly because roaming Vale in Beacon's uniform would be rather odd. Though, being… excruciatingly popular amongst the denizens didn't pave way for her to travel as easily without the risk of getting swarmed. Ruby popped on Yang's cap again and wrapped Weiss's white scarf around her neck.

The huntress took a good look at herself within the mirror and nodded contently, grabbing her shades and popping them on. First stop: Vale. It took less than an hour to board a bullhead and get to the city.

 _'Alright… now I just need to figure out where to go.'_ Ruby turned her head slightly and narrowed her eyes at her surroundings. Something didn't settle in right with her instincts, her instincts were just eerily buzzing at her of caution. Looking around, she didn't find anyone suspicious at all. So what was this need of precaution?

The leader of RWBY shook her head and continued on with her day, 'It might be just me…'

Ruby glanced to the bakery she came across, seeing a plethora of bread and cakes on display. Most of these foods seemed foreign, though absolutely delectable. She felt her mouth water prior to gulping it down and looking to her scroll. 'Egh… maybe not-' A plate of cookies slid under the display.

 _'MAYBE YES.'_ Nevermind, saving money can come later! Ruby bolted right into that store.

 **:: ( ::**

Today is turning out to be a great day for Ruby Rose- the disguised adventurer who ventured through the city with a bag of freshly baked cookies and cupcakes in one bag! Did she mention that they were chocolate chip cookies?

A smile plastered across her face, the huntress took an enjoyable sight-seeing of Vale again, having never did roam around the city fully. She'd probably have to call Weiss and tell her that she was out in Vale. Otherwise her partner would flip.

The huntress strolled along the sidewalk of the park. Birds are chirping, gooses are… goosing, and the wind was gentle. There didn't seem to be many people around either, to her relief. She took the liberty of removing her disguise gear and took a heavy breath, enjoying fresh air from suffocating underneath Weiss's scarf.

 _'I should go share some of these with Jaune some time… I think he'll enjoy it-'_

"Well well, look who I have here."

Ruby froze, eyes slightly widened. That voice… "Cardin?" The red-headed huntress turned her head to see the leader of CRDL standing there with hands placed on his hips and chest puffed out.

There he was with that arrogant grin of his, eyes sharpened on her, wearing casual clothing that didn't involve his armor and mace strapped to his side. The resident bully of Beacon nodded at Ruby, "All in the flesh, rosey. I was walking around for a bit and… you see, I couldn't help but notice a familiar prodigy walking around the park."

 _'Bull.'_ Ruby internally thought.

"Let's get started with that 'date'." The man took ahold of her hand, Ruby attempting to yank her hand out of his grip with little luck, "Oh come on now, I'm not that bad…"

The huntress gritted her teeth, "Cardin, this isn't funny! Let go of me!"

"Not until you go on that date with me, it's not that hard, and plus, I'm pretty popular myself!"

 _'You mean the bad way?'_

A hand- neither belonging to Ruby nor Cardin- audibly clapped itself over Cardin's wrist. It forced the bully to flinch in surprise, then glare at the owner of the hand. Meeting eyes to eye with a shorter individual with blond hair, whose azure eye focused blankly upon the leader of Team CRDL. Ruby's mouth slightly fell agap at the familiar librarian that seemed stoic about the current situation going down.

"Excuse me, 'sir'." The blond librarian arched his brow at the taller figure, the tone on the word 'sir' being emphasized greatly.

Cardin's one of intimidating his foes, using his brute strength to easily break through things and boast about his victories and pride. However, for some reason, all of that was turned to nothing as he stared down the eye of the blond who opposed him. Cardin remained dumbfounded- the level of intimidating reversed to impose upon himself. A cold grip was wrapped around his wrist, and his nerves were forcing him still into petrification.

With one gentle tug, Ruby's hand suddenly pried free of the bully's grasp. The huntress rubbed her wrist and stepped back, seeming just as amazed.

"I couldn't help but notice that you were harshly restraining this girl by the wrist, thus warranted me into stopping this little… 'act'." Jaune's voice remained flat, though it had been sharpened with annoyance and anger. The mixture of those two, atleast. It took the CRDL leader a few seconds to compose himself, yanking his hand away from the blond and glaring at him.

"Listen, buster, she owes me a date-" Cardin is casually rejected of his sentence in order for the blond to interject.

"Date..?" Jaune frowned, the first in which boosted Cardin's confidence.

"Yeah, little miss Rose- the famous prodigy in my school- is going on a date with me, Cardin Winchester! Don't mess with the Winchesters, or you're asking for it-"

"… Who?" The blond librarian blinked at him. Cardin felt his soul drop and hit the floor in one go.

"The Winchesters, trash! How do you not know of my name and my family? We're heavy supporters and close friends with the Remnant Military Alliance-!"

"-ah, now I remember. Also a family full of shady dealings and plotting within the underground world, no matter what the means, to also 'aid' the military alliance." Jaune smirked at the sight of the bully staggering back and stuttering something incoherent.

Jaune chuckled softly, "Sorry, but my sister- Ruby- was supposed to meet with me here today so I could help get some taxes out of the way and all. I hear the offices are quite busy around these times, and this is supposed to aid the alliance as well, I believe." Cardin didn't get to spit out a single word, to Ruby's surprise, "Truly sorry, but me and my little sister will be going now. Take care."

Ruby perked a brow as she stared at Jaune, watching as he turned around and was about to walk past her, _'Little sister? Here? I wonder who-'_

A warm hand held onto hers and gestured for Ruby to follow the blond that walked on ahead, leaving behind a completely lost and temperamental Winchester. Skipping a step to keep up with him, the huntress strided after Jaune and deeper into the park. To her relief of concerns, atleast there weren't other people in the park this time around to witness this.

Ruby's eyes trailed from the back of Jaune's head and down his arm, soon sighting the interlocking of their hands as they walked through the park calmly. Her face felt as if it were on fire, the pounding within her chest hastened. Her hand must've been heating up too, because Jaune turned around at that moment to blink at her, "You alright-?"

The corner of the huntress's mouth twitched, using her other hand to wave across the air hastily, "N-no no! I mean, yes! Totally fine! Don't mind me, no injuries here, no siree-!" It took one more look into his eye to realize that she was panicking way too much for her health.

He looked so calm and composed, the glasses he wore only supported the idea that he always seemed laxed, "Ruby." Her mind shut down at that moment, "Breath." Jaune commanded her, in which she obeyed without hesitation. Ruby let herself bring herself back together and nodded, physically telling Jaune that she was alright now.

"Cardin Winchester, huh?" His hand slipped away from hers as soon as he made sure it was clear, Ruby's hand almost reaching out to hold his hand again after missing that warmth, but then managed to restrain herself, "He sounds and looks like trouble."

The blond librarian turned his back on her, sliding his hands into his pockets while he headed back for his library. The silver-eyed huntress blinked, widening her eyes and hastily tried to walk alongside him, "T-thank you, Jaune."

"Hm? For what?" The eyepatched man slightly turned his head to gaze at her, "I didn't do anything."

'Liar.' She told herself and chuckled at him, "No… you helped me out with Cardin, he's… well, a bully and local Faunus-hater in my academy. He's a hunter, just like me. I guess my… 'gifted' status is something everyone would want to befriend me for."

"Gifted? Hm. You're who you are, Ruby."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Don't let something like that get to you, and if people do try and befriend you because of that, it's your call or not if you want to accept it. Don't let anything apply pressure to you if you feel uncomfortable about it. Anyways, I guess I was lucky to be walking around here during this time. Strange how I keep bumping into you…"

"H-hey, Jaune..?"

"What's up, Ruby?"

"Can I… be with you today?"

"…"

"…"

The two stare at eachother blankly, not a single one moving, not even the park.

Ruby became completely red when it clicked in.

 **:: ) ::**

That one librarian that she met at Good Reads? Yeah, he's trying to hold back a laugh right now. Ruby could only glare at the blond with arms crossed and a pout as she sat on a stool. Her glaring intensifies as Jaune was smugly grinning and staring to the side, who maybe found it hard to make eye-contact with the young huntress.

She swears, it was one mistake in her sentence! Just one!

"I-I uh…" As awkward as he is, he's still laughing whatsoever. Man, she's going to have to get him back for that.

"No… just, no. Stop." The reaper sighs, her forehead meeting the top of the counter as a glooming, angry imaginary dark mini-cloud rained on her head.

The two decided to stop by a café, Jaune having had closed his library earlier to head out and relax for a while. ( Librarians have lives too, yes. ) He offered her some cookies- that she seriously couldn't deny- and got himself a cup of coffee. Already having paid for their orders, the two went on talking about how life as a Librarian was alone- and how life in Beacon Academy was like. It wasn't much of a surprise to Jaune when he was told that she was seen as some kind of prodigy amongst the hunters there.

That, and that she was having an immensely difficult time dealing with the popularity.

Jaune visibly winced at that subject one time, in which Ruby did ask if he was alright. Though, the blond shrugged it off and made his signature smile, saying it was just his arm's bandages making him twitch.

The prodigy sighs and bites into her cookie, "You've had that for several days now… isn't your aura going to heal it eventually?"

"Huh?" The librarian glanced to his right arm and blinked, "Oh, this. Yeah, it will. My aura's just… really slow and all." He shifted in his seat a little, placing his left fist against his cheek to prop himself up.

"Oh," Ruby's head rose in understanding, "I get it… must be like… people with really low levels of aura. Got it." She shined him a thumbs up prior to finishing her cookie with a satisfied hum.

He exhaled in relief, to Ruby's wonder. The bells of the door being open chimed, a quad of individuals walking in and taking a browse of the café, "… Ruby?"

The famed huntress blinked, head perked up and turned to meet with the brown eyes belonging to that of a bunny faunus, "Velvet? What are you doing here?"

The Faunus beamed, ears perking up, "My team hangs out here all the time after a mission. We're taking a break after being relieved, we had to deal with some Deathstalkers and whatnot." Her Menagerin accent never did fade away.

"Velvet, what're you doing?" A woman with an orange highlight in her hazel hair had strolled in, lowering her sunglasses- Jaune did wonder why someone would wear shades indoors- and eyeing both Jaune and Ruby, "Ruby? What a surprise, we just got word about you getting even more popular from Beacon."

Her eyes trailed unto Jaune, who was looking at her, eyebrow arched, "Hello," The reaper didn't take that tone too well, "Who are you?" Coco strolled up to Jaune and leaned forward, cueing for the blond to lean back against the counter and blink in confusion, "You look rather… different." Unfortunately, Jaune wasn't too sure as to take that as a compliment or not. He could tell that she was studying everything about his face, leaving the Faunus and prodigy to jaw-drop at her.

"… Thank you?" Jaune sweatdropped, "You're quite… forward."

A brief chuckle emitted from her, "Sorry, I don't find handsome men like you so oftenly everywhere I go… You look like you've gotten into a fight recently," She gestures to the eyepatch and his bandaged right arm along with the scars, "But also smart, you're one who's fought many times before, huh?"

Jaune's breath hitched as he tensed, frowning and glancing away, "You're a little too close." He muttered. Coco sighed and smirked at him, nodding and respecting his personal space. Backing away, the fashionista left him to gain his own air.

"Anyways, Ruby, who's this?" The beret-donning woman placed her hands on her hips and headtilted.

"That's Jaune. He works at a library me and my team visited for Professor Port's homework."

"Oh, so he's the one who's supplied valuable information against dragon-type Grimm? I fancy that." The leader of CFVY headtilted the other way to Jaune, "You should become a hunter."

"Being a hunter… doesn't really suit me, so I'll have to decline."

Fox and Yatsuhashi soon walked up alongside their female companions, greeting both Ruby and Jaune briefly. Fox was the first to speak amongst the two new entries, "He's most likely right. I don't think there's anyone who uses a combat knife in the field of hunters…"

Jaune smirked to Fox, crossing his arms, "You can see my knife?"

"Well, no… technically I can 'sense' it." Fox admitted, in which Jaune nodded and chuckled.

"That's a cool trick you got there then. Not everyday you come across a blind person who has a sharper sense than anyone else."

"Thank you. Though, do you not have your own specialty? You wield a combat knife."

Everyone seemed just as interested as they bring their heads in from around the blond librarian. Jaune repositioned his glasses, shrugging, "Not really. I just own one for self-defense." Ruby frowned, as she was the only person with this kind of expression. The others merely shrugged it off and took his word for it.

"It is best we take our break time now before we are to report back to the professor, Coco." Yatsuhashi looked down upon the fashionista, who sighed and shrugs, "Alright. We'll see you later, Ruby. Maybe you too, Jaune."

The two smiled, making a half-wave towards the team of hunters, "Later, Coco!" "Maybe. Goodbye."

By the time Team CFVY headed to their usual table, Jaune got up from his stool and left a tip, gesturing to Ruby as he headed out. Getting this motion, she took the signal to accompany him. From there, both prodigy and librarian ventured throughout Vale and made way to the library. Traversing across the brick pathway that lead there, Ruby constantly took glimpses of Jaune while he wasn't looking. Or atleast, she thought.

"Ruby."

She jumped with a faint 'eek', "Y-yeah?"

"Something wrong?"

"N-no, of course not!" Jaune's eyes deadpanned at her. She shifted, "… M-maybe."

The former enigma waved with his hand to motion for her to continue.

"I… I just found it weird how you've saved me twice now. One from the King Taijitu," She recalled the time he was bitten by it for her sake, "… and just earlier today with Cardin." Ruby remembered the image of Jaune's hand forcing Cardin to let her go, "You've helped me so much already, and I'm wondering if there'll ever be a chance if I could repay you for everything you've done."

The blond couldn't find the words to say, only looking up to the amber leaves that rained on them gently, "One day… if it really does help you, I'll tell you. Then after that, you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. We're friends, Ruby. Of course I'll help you out." He said with a grin, leaving a speechless Ruby to walk the pathway and stare on ahead.

It took a second for Ruby to realize Jaune stopped suddenly, only taking a step further ahead of him prior to turning around and facing him, "Jaune?"

"…" He looked as if he were focusing intently on something. But with one look around, she didn't see anything. Nor did she feel anything. Nothing was screaming at her about danger like it always did- thank you instincts.

"No, it's nothing." Jaune continued on, arriving at the library. The huntress and librarian make a stop infront of the doors, his hand reaching for the door handle until Ruby's phone went off.

'Ehhhhh phone call?' Ruby's voice went off from within the scroll as the two stare at the scroll in Ruby's hand idly.

'Hey there's a phone callllllll.'

'PHOOOOOOOONEEEEEEE…'

'CAAAAAAAAAALLLL-!' Beep.

"S-sorry about that…" Ruby blushed in embarrassment, placing her scroll next to her ear, "Yang, what is it?" Jaune heard some muttering going off from the other side of the scroll, "What do you mean it's on fire? I don't use anything that deals with fire, Yang- ugh, fine, I'll be there in a few minutes." She hung up. Having looked forward to the day, Ruby groaned and glanced to Jaune with a depressed look, "Sorry Jaune, I have to go and take care of something. My sister's hair set a bed on fire and I gotta make sure everything's safe."

"Ah, no it's fine. Maybe another time, Ruby. Come on, I'll go with you to the Bullhead and drop you off there."

"You'd do that?"

"Sure would." He laughed softly, nodding, "What're you waiting for?"

"N-nothing!" The huntress smiles, zipping off to the distance with Jaune not too far behind her.

From where they originally were, a shadow of four individuals surrounded the library doors.

 **:: - ::**

"Thank you for today, Jaune." Ruby folded her hands behind her back and tilted left to right, "I enjoyed it."

"So did I. I'll see you around. Before I go, here." He reached into his hoodie pocket and handed her a slip of paper, "If you ever need me, my number's on it. Later." The blond turned, waving and walking back into the sunset.

Ruby examined the paper to see the series of numbers written on it until jumping in joy and cheering herself- causing some others to stare at her antics strangely. When it donned upon the prodigy that she was being stared at, she made a hurry to the bullhead and board it.

It was by then that Jaune was halfway back to the library, his eye having lost some color to it as he briefly zoned out.

 _'She reminds you a lot about her, doesn't she, Jaune?'_

"…" He grimaced, hands tucked into his pockets, "I suppose."

 _'You must endure, Jaune. That was your promise, wasn't it?'_

Internally, the eyepatched man sighs as he spoke to virtually nothing, "Yes… it was."

Jaune stopped infront of the doorway, staring at the glass shards and brick block laying all the way across the floor. On the brick block, a note attached to it by a string that read: 'loser' in some ugly form of handwriting.

"Well if it isn't the loser!" Multiple knuckles being cracked emanated behind the blond who continue with back facing the approachers. There were four of them, to count. Team CRDL.

"Looks like someone's broken into the library! Aw man, sucks to be the guy who owns it!" Sky laughed, clutching his stomach.

"Nerd!" Russel pitched in, crossing his arms.

"… You don't mess with a Winchester, guy. Now look what you got yourself into." Cardin's smug grin wrote itself across his face, "Someone's about to get a beat down~! Come on man, how about this, we'll make it fair and we won't hurt you! All you gotta do is bow down to me-"

Team CRDL froze as their eyes widened, their irises reducing to the size of small dots as they felt something… _abnormal_. Did the sunset just hasten into night? The leaves that were formerly bundled on branches of trees were gone, not a single one left on the ground even. As the moonlight casts itself upon the five, it only takes one to sooner realize what kind of pit they've dug.

A knife slips within the blond's left hand, in which they grip tightly. Their face is shadowed by the light that radiates upon them from the shattered moon- in which the moon's pieces were now placing themselves back together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Cardin Winchester experienced a new feeling, one his mind and body wasn't familiar to at all.

Inevitable death.

* * *

 **My apologies about that, needed to do a quick fix. Thank you guys in the reviews who notified me of the HTML formatting problem- appreciate it!**


	4. The Stranger Who I Owe A Debt To

**He never did enjoy bullies.**

The pressure of being within the blond's vicinity was terrifying- no, that's an understatement. It was petrifying.

Literally.

Cardin and his team were frozen in place, as if time had stopped, and with it, them as well. They didn't need to turn around to see the moon repairing itself back together, or to see if the blond librarian ahead of them was going to kill them in an instant. It was a _knife_ in the librarian's hand- but why did it look so much more menacing than every other weapon they've encountered thus far?

He feels as if he were hallucinating, where color was starkly contrasted by black and white. Only outlines of black were made, filled in by pure white where no shades between both were created. Only monotonous shades. The only thing that had color was the left eye that wasn't covered by an eyepatch. If eyes could be considered a weapon, his eye was the very first.

Jaune's eye glared at them menacingly, glowing brightly with an azure hue that Cardin was _sure_ he's already died five times in the time span of… a second? Millisecond? There- imbued within the blond's gaze- is a tsunami of some ancient rage that's remained dormant for possibly years…

No matter how many times Cardin felt like he was actually holding the grip of his mace, reality held a different opposition, where he _isn't_ actually holding it, and all he was doing was standing still alongside Russel, Dove and Sky.

 _'What… what the hell is going on?! Why can't I move..?!'_

He blinks.

Jaune had instantly been on the move, leaving team CRDL entirely unsure when he started to move at all. It was the matter of fact that he's already five steps away from them, as they could see the glinting black light shining off one edge of the knife in the blond's hand. It tore away space, leaving nothing but the linear trail of a black void that surely cut off whatever existed there just now.

They were screaming despite their mouths not moving. Their lungs were giving out to the point they were going to be hoarse and sore-throated for atleast days. Hearts were racing at the speeds that not even a heart-attack would compare to.

One by one, Cardin witnessed the beheading of his team. Heads popped off from the stumps of their necks, leaving behind a black void to censor the blood and gore. In slow motion, he watched their faces of terror and fear raise into the air along with their heads. From Russel, to Dove, to Sky.

The entire reality behind the librarian got sucked into a vortex, acting like a black hole that was consuming everything within its range. That eerie screeching that only they could hear… came from the knife that screamed at him.

It screeched only one word by the time it was a centimeter from Team CRDL's leader's throat.

 _ **DEATH.**_

"Excuse me," A voice that Cardin nor his team recognized spoke out. The team of hunters soon began to realize something. Jaune never moved from where he was, only holding a brick in his hand with a tag on it. Everything was back to normal. His team wasn't beheaded. There was never a knife, the moon never fixed itself. Infact, it's still sunset.

Though, Cardin's heart remained racing, fearfully taking glances to his team's expressions, seeing the same. All of them were bewildered to the extent that they sweated profusely on this cold night.

On cue, all four searched for the source of the voice to see two individuals standing in the distance, calm and casual as they approached in slow strides, "We heard some commotion over here and came to investigate. I'm here with my partner to look into the scene, seems you guys are the only ones here."

A black-haired green-clad individual with a pink highlight in his hair folded his arms. Their magenta eyes burned through the shadows and locked onto the glass that sprawled across the floor. To his left, a ginger whose grinning didn't seem like ending anytime soon.

Sky gulped at the sight of an immensely large hammer placed over the woman's back. That thing honestly seemed to weigh a _ton_ compared to everything else.

"Ah, yeah. These four just got here when I got here."

"I see then. I would like to ask you some questions- me and my partner, Nora, are apart of the police. I'm Ren. Lie Ren." The officer held his hand out to the blond.

"Heya~!" The proclaimed 'Nora' made a mock salute and balanced herself on one foot.

"Jaune. A pleasure to meet you." The librarian gave a grin and shook the raven-haired man's hand, then nodded to Team CRDL, "You four should get going before you're late for curfew. Please… do watch after _Ruby._ " For some reason, the Winchester felt a death threat under the italicized text.

"A-ah, r-right…" Dove was the first to talk, his voice trembling and hoarse while shaking terribly. Sky and Thrush were no different, they paled. They were _very_ , _very_ pale. Their leader proved even worse when it came to heavy breathing and sweating, eyes darting to every corner of his peripheral before he turn around and… _ran._ The other three took after him without hesitation.

A sigh sooner released from the officer, who broke off hand contact with Jaune, "… We knew something was wrong."

"Eitherway, thanks for the save."

"Psh, no no!" Nora beamed at the blond after she glomped his back and clung onto him like a sloth, "We came here to save _them_!" A misfit's giggle sounded from her.

Jaune leaned forwardly slightly to regain balance, glancing over his shoulder to see her as he grinned back, "Oh? Darn, I'm not the damsel in distress after being a victim?"

"Jaune." Ren's voice was stern and focused with sharpness in his tone, "Are you going to be alright? With all this?" The green-glad male gestures to the glass and the brick, "You know we can go file this to the _actual_ police."

A hesitant breath exhaled from the blond, who faced the mess and shook his head, "Nah it's fine… I can clean this up myself. No worries. Just some guys who don't know how long 'far' is. Besides, they were bullying a friend of mine."

Both Nora and Ren frowned, gazing at Jaune with concern, "Friend..? You've… you made a new one?" Nora seemed… skeptical.

Jaune merely rose a brow at the duo, "Yeah, what do you mean? I can't make friends now?"

"Excuse Nora, Jaune, but…" Ren- just like Nora- is also skeptical, "You always secluded yourself in your library for years eversince… well, _that_ , you're someone who barely makes contact with actual _people_ , Jaune."

A shrug was given. The blond librarian sighs, "Huh… eitherway, he was getting on my nerves. I was about to throw this brick at his head if it weren't for you guys." Jaune holds up the brick with the tag.

"We can break his legs, you know." The hammer-slung girl cheerfully chimed, "Throw him over a cliff and stuff."

"Or we can _not_." Ren sent a small glare her way, "If you're alright with all this, then alright, Jaune. But you should contact us whenever you need us. Seriously, we're a team." The blond winced at the last word, "Later, Jaune."

The two made turn and waved, departing. The librarian returned that wave, but with a frown.

He looks up to the pieced moon, "… and here I am again." He muttered to himself.

 _'… Endure.'_

The arms of the crimson-haired woman wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him into an imaginary warm embrace that was long since missed.

 **:: + ::**

"To your left!"

 _Bang!_

"Nice shot! Let's move up, we only got a few left!"

Dispatched for a mission, Ruby's team took lead in a joint-operation in clearing a field of Grimm that were threatening to amass near one wall of Vale. A field infested with Beowolves and Ursai. Team CFVY and Team SSSN weren't too far from theirs.

"You look better today." Blake ran up alongside Ruby, taking aim with Gambol Shroud to shred off a number of Grimm.

"Do I?" Ruby stared up at the sky, Crescent Rose readied to her side, "What makes you say that?"

"Yang was nagging my ears off about how you keep zoning out and how it might relate to the librarian you've met."

"Oh really?" Ruby smiled and scoped up, firing powerful rounds into the pack, "I never thought about that. We're on a mission though, of course I have to be focused!"

An ursa charged into the two, Blake rolling to the side and Ruby flipping over the large beast. Mid-somersault, the red reaper took aim down it's spine and fired, tearing through the flesh and digging a small crater into the ground. Leaving the agonized monster to roar and flail before Blake dug Gambol Shroud's blade into the head.

"See? All focused!" Ruby cheered herself on with a fist pump. Blake, on the other hand, chuckled at the younger girl's antics and merely shrugged, "Yeah, I bet you are. But you're even happier than you usually are." The Faunus took a quick glimpse of the forestry, "We're almost done here, Yang and Weiss should be regrouping with us in a little bit. But I'll be dropping by the library today, I have to return a few things."

"Cool! Mind if I join?"

Blake rose her head a little and nods, "Sure, why not? By the way, I've been meaning to ask something."

Ruby glanced over from her scope after scanning the area, "What's up, Blake?"

"How did you exactly score that high on Professor Port's report?"

"Hngh-" She flinched at the subject, as if she were hit physically with words, "I uh… well, the…" Ruby didn't know how to explain it, other than a simple 'Jaune helped me with this cool book he had, spent time with him until late at night, turned it in zip bop boopity bo-'

"… I studied in Jaune's library."

"Who?"

"Jaune?" Ruby headtilted, "The librarian? I thought you went to that library a lot?"

"I do but… I never did manage to get his name, he'd always communicate with me silently with hand signs or… _something_. We never did talk to eachother, he might've been respecting my want for peace and silence… plus, I never thought there'd be unknown hunter material to study in _that_ library."

"Why's that?"

"It always looked… _casual_. There's nothing that a library like that could be hiding, it's so simple and out there. Don't tell him I said this, but I thought it'd just have books everyone's looked at before."

Humming, the R of RWBY saw Yang and Weiss waving over to them as they approached, "That's weird. Jaune let me study a book that he shared with me about it."

The Faunus's amber gaze slightly narrowed, _'There's not much I know about Good Reads, is there? I'll have to check it out.'_

"Hey Weiss, Yang! How'd it go?"

"It went great, sis! Check out what I got! Found this inside an ursa!" The blonde brawler whipped out what looked like a shiny bright yellow star that had two eyes on the front of it, holding it up as all three practically awed at it, "Behold! The great star!"

Weiss frowned, "Is that an Invincibility Star?"

The rest of RWBY pause and stare at the resident heiress with blank looks.

"A what?" All three of them simultaneously inquire.

 **:: { ::**

"You're heading to the library again? You've been going there a lot, Rubes. You sure you don't have a crush on your 'knight in shining armor?'" Yang gave a dirt-eating grin to her sister, which soon ate a surface of a pillow that flopped to the floor, "… ow."

"I _don't_ have a crush on him," The huntress flushed with a mutter, "Blake is going there and I just said I'd like to tag along is all!"

"Fine fine, sheesh, didn't need to be so violent." Yang waved her hand and climbed up into her bed, "Weiss, don't you have anything to say to her? She's your partner."

Weiss glared at the buxom blonde and sighs, bookmarking and shutting her study book closed, "Ruby," The heiress spiked the leader's attention briefly, "Look… if you want to engage an affair, it's fine, but be-"

"Weissssss!" Ruby whined, pouting and stomping one foot against the ground.

"-listen now, but be careful. Not all people you meet out there in the civilian world is who you expect them to be!" Weiss crossed her arms, standing up and staring down the brunette, "I am simply being concerned for your well-being- and as much as I do care about your personal happiness- you will need to find the right man for you- Ruby?" By the time she opened her eyes after her incessant talking, she found the huntress being addressed missing. The only thing replacing her was a dotted outline of where she formerly was.

"RUBY I SWEAR TO OUM-!"

Walking down the corridor of the dorm rooms was Ruby and Blake, who pokerfaced as they put on some soundproof headphones.

Until they finally arrived at Vale, the two were already making progress to Good Reads. Blake had to make a few stops and visit some stores while Ruby waited and took the time to make note of whatever stores there were nearby. The famed huntress did take note of which path _not_ to take- otherwise risk running into those hoodlums again from last time.

"Mom, look! It's her!"

 _'Eh?'_

Ruby glanced to the side. The origin of the voice was a young boy who was pointing at her. His mother was holding his hand, who then took a look at who he was pointing at before the woman's mouth began to drop, "Oh dust- Jeremy! Jeremy, it's Ruby Rose!"

"What? No way." The so-named 'Jeremy' walked out from one corner to sight Ruby, and eventually, more and more people began swarming in with chatter and cheers. Ruby sweatdropped. The amount of troublesome company is going to gradually increase at this rate.

"Blake? Blaaaake! Hurry up, we gotta go-!" _Yoink!_

"I've entirely neglected the memory of you being popular! Tch, stupid me!" Blake sped across the sidewalks and streets, one hand hugging the bag of groceries in one arm against her chest, the other grabbing onto Ruby's hoodie and dragging her for the ride.

With the reaper helplessly flailing in the air and being 'dragged', Ruby could easily see the dozens of people that were chasing after them in pursuit, "Uh. Oops?" Ruby chuckled unnervingly.

Blake's ears twitched, her head immediately jerking one side and then her body, pivoting on spot and dashing towards there.

"Wait, Blake, where're we going?! His place is _that_ way-!"

"Shush!" The Faunus practically threw Ruby into the alley, diving after her shortly afterward.

"Oof!" Ruby's face met the ground as she skidded across, groaning and rubbing her face as she got up, "What was that for-?!"

A hand clasped itself around her mouth, leaving her to widen her eyes in surprise. Infront of her was Blake, who leaned against the wall with her back and maintaining a look-out as the horde rushed by their location. But if Blake was right there, then whose hand is this?

The silver-eyed huntress glanced at the owner of the hand, seeing the side of Jaune's eyepatched face. He, too, was focused on the group that was after her. The blond being unaware, Ruby's face began turning redder and redder as her eyes became spirals. She could feel his body heat, his hand keeping her mouth shut being only one contribution to it.

He was holding her a little too close, to the girl's fortune and misfortune, her head tucked safely against his chest. Hearing every beat his heart made it only worse for her.

Blake sighed in relief when the crowd was finally out of sight, in which then Jaune sighs in return and nods to the B of RWBY, "Alright, we're in the clear. Sorry Ruby, you were being a bit nois…y?" The blond's eye trailed down to the huntress, finding out that she had passed out. To both Faunus and the male Human's confusion, Jaune was sure he didn't stop her air supply.

On Ruby's face, a twitching smile, her eyes giving off swirls, face red and breathing heaved. Blake looked up to Jaune, "What did you do?"

The blond looked back up to the Faunus and shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't do anything."

Blake contemplated what the next step was, only groaning and shook her head.

 **:: } ::**

"She reminds you of someone?" The Faunus inquired as she sat on a stool. It wasn't long since they've arrived at the library of the blond librarian. Ruby was laid onto one of the bean-bag seats to sleep in while mumbling random words.

"Mm." He hummed confirmingly while fixated on making the tea she requested. To her, it was strange to see that this man had practically everything she'd ever want in her imaginations when wanting a _quiet_ and _relaxing_ place to study at. Or… read whatever it is she wanted to read.

"She's also friendly- it's not everyday that you hear of someone who attends Beacon Academy at the age of 15. A prestigious school meant for hunters and huntresses of all kinds, isn't it?"

The Faunus nods with a light smile, "Correct. Ruby's one special kind of huntress, I'd like to say. She's creative and while she's young and naïve, she has the sense of trying to understand and learn from it. I'm glad to have run into someone like her."

"I'm also going on ahead and guessing that she's also comfortable with the fact you're a Faunus?"

Blake chuckles, "Yes, she's alright with that."

Silence sat inbetween the two unphased individuals.

 _Shiiing!_

In one instant sweep, her sword arm swung outwards towards the librarian who was preparing a drink. The edge of Gambol Shroud places itself upon the nearing air of the blond's neck as he continued his service nevertheless. Blake was on the edge of the counter, leaning over with the weapon drawn on the civilian.

"How did you find out?!" For once, Blake bared her cat-like fangs at the blond and glared, "Are you with the White Fang?!"

Jaune felt pretty glad he reinstalled those glass panels now to prevent the shouting from getting out.

She was rewarded with a chuckle from her actions, "What are you laughing about?! Don't you see you're about to die if you don't start answering?!"

It was that moment when an azure eye met with hers, leaving the Faunus to tense suddenly despite having no feeling of hostility from the librarian, "Sorry, it's just…" He would set the cup he was pouring tea into down, then rose a hand and gripped the sides of Gambol Shroud with a thumb and two fingers. Lowering the blade itself as Blake didn't seem to put any resistance in it at all, finding herself rather entranced by his eye.

It held a soft and warm gaze, as if he was a gentle parent capable of calming miraculously anything malicious that's sent his way, "… you really don't look like the kind of person to kill another." Jaune smiles, "I'm not an enemy, I just knew you long enough to figure out you were a Faunus. I don't think you're a bad person at all, just someone who wants to run away from a lot of things."

Her eyes widened, breath hitching as her grip on Gambol Shroud completely numbs. Settling back down calmly, Gambol Shroud is returned to its sheath. Words couldn't describe what she had experienced just now, but it felt _genuine_ as to how honest he sounded. For someone who's never paid too much attention to her- or even _spoke_ to her at all- the librarian made it as if he's known her for atleast _years_.

"I'm not with the White Fang, and even if I was, I'd side with the formerly peaceful side. During my time working here, I've come to meet a lot of people, and I've learned a lot of things." The blond admitted when sliding the cup of tea towards the cat Faunus, who took it hesitantly.

"I'm Jaune- though I think Ruby's told you about me if you two are team mates." The blond sat down on the other side of the counter from her, sipping his own tea after pouring another cup. Blake watched, seeing as to nothing happened to the enigma from drinking the tea, eventually drank her own.

The tea refreshed her, so to say. It is certainly a higher grade kind of tea she's tasting right now if it was this satisfying.

"Ginseng Tea, mixed with some special ingredients that I've read from some other books here. You should probably read Mistralian Herbs and Atlesian Tea Courtesies if you feel like getting creative on your kinds of teas."

Blake let the hostility set aside and smirks towards Jaune, eyebrow perked as she took one more sip, "… You wouldn't mind?"

"No, of course not. As long as you don't damage them or check them out for too long, all's fine."

"I mean… me and Ruby hanging out _here_ from now on?"

The blond headtilted and took on the same expression Blake expressed to him. Then came the confirming nod and signature grin, "I won't mind at all."

It felt relieving- despite that she could've come in here at any given time and studied anyways- to hear the words leave Jaune's mouth. Blake's ears twitched at the shuffling of the leaves from the tree in the center of the library, those rosey pink petals descending down elegantly to the wooden planked ground. A smile crossed her lips.

Maybe there _is_ a lot she doesn't know about this library.

 **:: | ::**

"Agh, whuzzah matta mah boi?" Ruby sputtered out as her eyes flickered awake, being introduced to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling and felt the leathery contours of something plushy beneath her. Allowing herself some time to let her vision clear up, she lifted herself up and took a glance about, "B… Blake, where are you?" Taking some slow blinks and time to clear her mind, she eventually recognized the area around her.

 _'I'm… at Jaune's library? When did this happen?'_

Her brain backtracked to the most recent thing she could remember. Alright, so what was square one?

Square one apparently displayed a rowdy crowd of people. Okay…

Square two? Blake yanking her along and running from said group. This is… slowly making sense-

Annnnd the final square, the image of Jaune's face close to hers-

 _'OH!'_

The huntress shot upright in her bean-bag chair and was met with the sight of a chuckling blond, who wore an eyepatch over one eye and sat on a wooden chair. His head was propped up with a fist, a sheepish grin plastered over his lips and posture slouched, "Finally awake, Little Red Riding Hood?"

She felt her lips quivering before heat rose to her cheeks, quickly shaking her head frantically and letting the heat subside as much as it could, "H-hey! I'm not that little..!" Ruby pouted, crossing her arms and pouting off in the direction of a different wall, "I'll have you know I'm a fully-fledged huntress!"

"I know." Jaune couldn't help but say cheekily. With the blond now having the brunette awake, he stood up and handed her a small plate of cookies- in which she grabbed at without hesitation- and walked towards the front counter to finish checking out the books turned in recently.

"Hey, where'd Blake go? Oh no, don't tell me she got ran over by the mob-" Ruby's eyes widened in horror as she nearly gasped.

"No, she's fine. She had to go out and buy some things. Blake'll be back in a few minutes." Jaune had said, to Ruby's relief.

She smiled, not only because of Blake being alright as she hoped, but also that she managed to get here again and enjoy this homely feeling of Jaune's _Good Reads_ library. In a single bite, she tasted the plate of delicacies in her hand- and to her opinion, tasted _great_.

Ruby took a look about that library and set the plate down after taking another one off the plate to hold in hand. The huntress strode towards the counter where Jaune was working, peeking over the counter to see Jaune was filing. In which, he didn't seem to mind at all while working wordlessly.

"Hey, Jaune…"

"Hm? What's up, Rubes?"

A slightly reddened hue rose to her cheeks at the nickname, "I was wondering if… w-well, if you'd let me help out here too." Several seconds were spared inbetween the two, Jaune stopping as to whatever he was doing to perk a brow and glance at her questionably, in which Ruby immediately sputtered out next, "Voluntarily!"

Jaune did seem a little skeptical about that offer, but this was Ruby he was holding a conversation with. No harm could really come out of it. But then again…

"Are… you sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely." Ruby said without skipping a beat.

A slow and shaky exhale left him, the one-eyed man putting down his scanner and making his way towards the far wall. He pushes out this stroller cart that held books that needed to be reorganized on the proper shelf, books that Ruby's most likely never even heard of before too, "You can help me organize these then to the proper shelves, I wouldn't mind a helping ha-." Jaune cuts himself short, to Ruby's pondering.

"… hand." The blond finished for himself, looking to his bandaged arm.

"…"

Ruby snickered.

"Ow, my pride."

"S-sorry, you made that really dramatic." The huntress beamed, taking the cart and pushing it down the aisles with Jaune by her side. He directed the young prodigy towards the right bookcases to place them in, grabbing a ladder for her to step on and place them on the appropriate spots. Ruby decided that it would cut the awkwardness between them if she started having some kind of conversation with him during those tasks.

"You crashed into your partner, day one, before you've even became partners with her during the initiation?" Jaune inquired, perking a brow and smirking at her unfortunate tales. He handed her another book from the cart, in which she took and placed on the shelf.

"Mhm. Weiss kinda gave me a scolding and all that, that wasn't until after I exploded after crashing into her."

Jaune's hand flinched, bringing back the book in hand an inch, "You did _what?_ " The librarian couldn't help but ask credulously, trying to make sense out of it.

"E-er… Weiss had this vial-looking thing and I didn't know there was dust inside, so I accidently took a whiff of it and-"

"-you exploded."

"Y-yeah…"

Jaune chuckled at her expense, shaking his head and shrugging, "Why do you always end up in the most strangest predicaments?"

Ruby practically fumed at that, pouting and armflailing while standing on the ladder, "How was I supposed to know it was going to _explode-_?!"

A snap emitted from the locks on the ladder Ruby stood on, the rollers coming off the shelf's edge and causing it to slide to the side and off, "Wah!" The silver-eyed huntress's eyes widened, leaning dangerously low to the side and slipping off.

Instinctively, she tried to reach out for anything she could grab ahold of. By the time she did grasp onto something, her entire body came down after gravity's dictation and crashed into the unfortunate blond below, Jaune. Books jumped off some of the shelves loosely, raining down upon the two individuals.

"Oof!"

"Ow… be careful next time…"

Both of them opened their eyes at the same time, the closeness of an azure iris and silver orbs neared suddenly to a halt.

Ruby's breath washed over Jaune's cheeks, head nearing his by almost an inch of space. The blond tried to shift, but was resisted against Ruby's own body weight as she sat on his waist, his legs stretched out behind her. His back was angled from the ground with his elbows supporting him up, but feared for the worst if he used his palms since Ruby's hands were pressed against the ground behind him as support.

It was fair enough to say the blushing between the two unsuspecting victims was equally shared, their eyes trained on one another, bodies nearly pressed together. Books around them were spread across the ground, some open, some not.

The reaper's crimson cape was draped around their bodies, the hem of it stopping when it met Jaune's thighs, like a curtain. Silence was shared, only for a moment.

"I-I… I didn't mean to-"

"W-wait, don't move so much-"

The two flinched at eachother's intersection of sentence.

The bell from the doorway chimed audibly as Blake walked in, "Sorry I took so long, Jaune, they still had the same crowd that chased Ruby down at the store. They seriously thought the store was being sponsored by… Ruby…"

The black-haired feline donned the look of terror as the grocery bags dropped to the ground by the time she spotted them. Her face flushed while her ears perked along with the corner of her lip. Ruby and Jaune shared the same look with Blake, the red-caped huntress holding up a hand to try and say something before anything could get worse, "This isn't what you thi-"

"Blake, I think we left Yang behind-" The heiress of RWBY paused, promptly getting the same expression as everyone in the room of awkward silence, her entire body posture frozen with a hand reaching for Blake's shoulder unsuccessfully.

"Weiss, I think you left me behind-" A blonde brawler had join the not-so-actual-brawl, freezing and staring at Jaune and Ruby.

"I see this is a great time for me to drop in, Achievement Hunters!" Yang grinned maliciously.


	5. The Stranger Who Made A Promise

**He remembered, still. Those loving, cherished memories that never swore to leave his side, only to become the haunting of him.**

Jaune. That was his name. The name provided to him by his family on birth.

And so, Jaune peered at the sakura tree in the center of his library, his posture kicked back as he relaxed with his eyes undaring to leave the tree. It had been a while since he's abandoned the eyepatch, his eye having healed not too long ago. His right arm remained the same, unfortunately. The blond librarian took steady breaths that echoed quietly throughout the library, a shattered moon sitting overhead, and silence dominating the soundspace.

 _'You seem saddened, knight.'_ The bodiless voice stated.

"Don't I always?" Jaune replied softly, unphased by the sudden voice that sprung up. There were many things that people would've deemed mysterious about his life, maybe even question the history he's had as of far throughout the all of Remnant. In the end, he was always alone, one way or another. With fingers trailing across the wooden surface, it would stop centimeters away from contacting the gloved hand that pressed against the ground beside him.

"I'd say so as well, Jaune." The redhead said as she smiled at him generously. The Spartan's hand rested over his, emerald glowing eyes stared at him as he didn't return the gaze, "… but you have a friend now, after all this time. She'll be there for you now, I know she will. You just have to accept it and move on."

A shaky breath loosened from the blond's lips, his eyes wincing as if he were in physical pain, "… and if I can't?"

"You can." She promised him as she leaned over, arms coiling around his shoulders as she brought him into an imaginarily warm embrace, the crimson locks of long hair barely scraping his cheek when leaning over him, "You've suffered for so long… but don't you think that enough's enough, Jaune?"

"…" There was no reply from him, only a feature of grimace visible on his face. Pyrrha released him from her embrace and returned to her neutral sitting, gazing upon the heavenly tree that glew throughout the library's darkness and kept it at bay, "There is only so much pain you can take before you break, Jaune…" She stated, her tone soft and motherly, as she curls up into a ball and hugs her knees close to her chest, "You became who you are now because of what's happened, and what's done…"

His heart ached, but he couldn't find the human within himself to shed tears. Jaune set eyes upon the same tree she did, as it always seemed to be the one inanimate object that would let his heart rest at ease. This is his pain. The pain of remembering, the pain of remaining in the past, and the pain of living. That was the cost of the wish he's made, and what he would regret. Incapable of progress. The moon is merely a reflection of his shattered soul that he's long lost.

Jaune brought his eyes to a close while the embers of flames rose to his cheeks, his hair flaring up gently as the darkness set in, dominating over the amber brightness that encompassed his body, "If only, Pyrrha… if only."

 **:: ; ::**

And so he lost the world.

Here stands the blond child who cried through the flames that sent the world asunder. Hopeless and desperate, the young boy was surrounded by bodies piled over one another inside burning houses and smoking infrastructures composed of wooden beams and building material. Metal clanged against metal; weapons customized with the combination of guns were created in sake of the conflict, weapons that were constantly abused until a war is won, just to be discarded in the future for making space for the better weapons.

This isn't a sad story.

It's merely a story that involved a child of war.

For soldiers to fight each other for the desperate cause of winning, it involved lives and countless innocents to be put on a gambling table, and which ever side had lost, lives would still be lost. For Jaune was no bystander, as he treaded across the burning fields of home and cried enough for that he had no more tears left within him to give life. The blond child abandoned his former home, in which was filled with the corpses of what remained of his family and their lost legacies.

He cried.

He cried to the point he couldn't, and only cried out in pain that swelled from within his heart. It's been long since that all soldiers from both sides left the butchered village, and only left havoc in their aftermath. Jaune dragged his feet along the red-marked soil, his clothing torn and charred, face mucked by dirt and soot. His cheeks were puffy from tears, the sound of his sniffings drowned out by the embers that overtook his home.

 _Jaune wanted to die._

He wanted to die in the suffocation of flames that was provided around him. To die along with his family, his friends, at his home. So when the time came, he gave up, collapsed into a heap on the ground. First came Jaune's knees, planting into the ground, before the rest of his body meeting it. The blond child's eyes shut, his mind beginning to discard the meaning to be alive.

…

Death didn't come for him. It simply didn't claim him, when it should have.

When fate found him, it had also left him, without him even needing to know it. Jaune determined his own fate, created by his own hands, woven into the truth by his own will. So he carried on, picking his weight up and dragging himself further, further past the boundaries of his village and ventured on his own to live on.

His mind was broken, but not as broken as his body was. Inside this boy was the will to live and the desire to fight, fight against anything that went against him on all terms. It served as a fire, one that lit brightly within one's heart and never died, in a way…

He ventured the plains, the forests, mountains, escaped countless dangers, experimented with risky food, and met travelers within the passing weeks. His body was already losing fat and gained miniscule increments of muscle as time went on, displaying the scrawny boy in rags who wandered the world to look for meaning. As the time came, he eventually made it to a waterfall, where the bottom was rumored to be an abyss leading to and endless pit.

Jaune made it to the peak of this waterfall and found the abyss, where this boy's journey finally ends. The wind came with a gentle breeze, but that breeze seared his skin with light amounts of heat. He looked across the waterside to see the man in the longcoat. Their coat detailed with a green flame-like design along the edges of his collar, and two crescent golden arcs with the curve aiming upward. Beneath the two crescent arcs, the symbol of what resembled the shattered moon of Remnant. This insignia was found etched into the right-shoulder of the blazer-like outfit this man adorned.

The figure stood a mighty 8-foot tall, his hair of dark blond and posture straight, hands pocketed. Jaune felt as if he knew this man, yet failed to identify him. For not even the symbol made sense. He didn't ask the first question, as it was the figure on the other side of the river instead.

"… You came here to live, haven't you?"

Jaune's near-lifeless eyes trained upon the man, and the boney-bodied child nods, "… I have." His voice was hoarse of the lack of water, his being dehydrated and has long since had proper nourishment.

The figure turned his head, their left eye peering upon the child to reveal the white-iris and black sclera. His right eye, closed. There were no weapons on him, but it had already been proven that this man being in the vicinity was enough to tell Jaune that the man stood on neutral grounds. A grin came out of that man, in which Jaune couldn't help but reciprocate with his own.

"You came to the end of a long journey with a smile. Do you regret anything?"

"…" Jaune's smile dropped into a frown as he looked to the abyss down below, all he saw was the blackness at the end of the river with the sun coming into a dawning phase, "There are many things that I regret…" The lost child recalled the flames of that day, and the gunfire that sprung about the collision of swords and weapons.

"… Being powerless, weak, helpless… and…" Those flashing memories of his family smiling at him, every sister, mom, dad, his dog, friends, everyone, "Being unable to save my family… my friends, everything…"

For silence to sit down and wait, patience for responses were common to Jaune and the stranger. The enigmatic blond shrugs, shaking his head and sparing another grinning glance to the boy, "… I was you, at one point in time. Powerless. That's what we are, when we are incapable of defending anything and run whenever we can't fight back."

Jaune perks his head up to the stranger, shock and awe dominant over his face. What was provided to him now was a hand donned with a fingerless-glove on it, extended to him in the distance that was made up of strong rushing waters, "I will give you what you want. _Power_. That can help you accomplish what you want in your life from thereon, right?"

The scrawny child found those words soothing, but within it, rough and was embedded with the tone of someone who demanded effort and will. To trek these waters now meant suicide, considering how he was physically and where the end of these rushing waters lead to. The abyss.

He was being dared to cross it right now to gain that _power_ he's long sought for. But what if all of this was a lie, and he was bound to die anyways?

 _'Confidence.'_ Jaune's father said, leaving him to widen his eyes and grit his teeth, sucking it up and clenching his fists. _'Confidence… that is what I need. That is the value of life dad gave me…'_

And so, he stepped into the water, feeling the immediate effect of water crushing against his boney leg as he heard his muscles scream and cringe from the pressure, ringing in his ears. Yet Jaune prevailed, only leaving a minor stumble to be visible. The stranger remained unchanged, continuing to extent his hand out to him.

 _'I want to fight. That's why I came all this way, didn't I?'_ Jaune's glowing azure irises tore through light, and found himself wanting to have strength that was never made available to him before. _'This is what it means to be alive, and this is what I want…'_ He took another step, and he was quarter-of-the-way submerged into the harsh stream.

"Why is it you want this power, child?" The enigma asked, his sheepish grin never leaving his face.

 _'Why do I want it..?'_ Jaune's body forced itself to wave through, his legs bleeding from the small pebbles and rocks that brushed against his flesh. It took every ounce of his will to not scream in agonizing pain. Sure, children cry, but this one prevented himself from showing this weakness, _'I… want it because…'_ His mind was hesitant, so he relied on his body.

Another step, and bone began appearing like dots on his legs. He became halfly submerged into the stream, feeling the pressure against his abdomen and lower, "I want to… save people." His breath muttered as he looked into the eye of the enigmatic blond, "I want to protect people…"

Jaune acknowledged that he was too weak to protect people as he was right now. He acknowledged his _sin_ and lived with it. His heart told him- it told him what he wanted to be. It told him what he wanted to do with power. If this is what it takes to accomplish it, he wouldn't care about his body breaking, as long as he was alive, he was willing to do it.

He heard his own bones cracking and tearing from his skin, but he didn't care. _'Or else I'll… never be the man I want to be!'_ The boy screamed internally, eyes widening as his body trembled. With the few last steps he needed from getting out of the rushing waters, his lungs huffed, his vocal cords shrieking, as he let out a roar and held his hand out for the man's.

His determination to have power became astounding to new heights and the desire to win became too great, his hand wrapping around the stranger's as the stranger pulled him out from the torrent. Jaune was bleeding, his bones were showing from beneath the layers of muscle he had left, his being bruised and battered. Yet he was alive, huffing and panting, his legs giving out on him as he collapsed to the floor.

The enigma simply grabbed ahold of him to keep Jaune on his knees before letting him rest on his knee, the blond enigma chuckling and nodding to the unconscious child, "… You and I, we don't have too much in differences. We'll gain power, and with it, we'll do what we can." A luminous white light encompassed Jaune, healing his legs and relieving him of stress as he rested.

"For it is in courage and determination that we part from humanity, but in compassion and will that we differ from Grimm. Heed my words carefully, for neither your or I will bow to anything… keep smiling, and fight. For that's who you are." He picked up the boy, turning to walk away from the waterfall leading to the abyss below.

"Live with the sufferings that may come, Jaune."

 **:: : ::**

Years.

Jaune spent years learning under the nameless teacher, and he had already been proficient with many weapons, and taught by many wisdoms passed on by the four directions. His teacher was one of a harsh and grueling training, but Jaune was displayed compassion and kindness when the training would cease for the day and left alone for tomorrow.

The child no longer was scrawny and as boney as he was before, having being constructed from the bottom to have a degree of muscle and strength within him to have necessary for a fit body. His free time consisted of books and concentration, where no other would find the ability to accomplish such thing and deem it inhumane. All of this was for the sake of power, as he learned the philosophies of having _power_.

The enigmatic blond didn't prove any more of his identity, finding it only sufficient that Jaune would only need power to become what he wanted to be. No one dare intruded on their sessions, and all there is to know now about the world was the war of Remnant. Where an empire would attempt to dominant all main four kingdoms, declaring outrageous wars and demanding needless sacrifices.

One day, by the time Jaune became 15, he intended to join the war and perform what believed was right. His teacher said nothing, only sitting back in his chair from the small wooden cabin they lived at within the mountains. By the time he left, his enigmatic teacher only gave him one thing: a book, to take on his continuing journey.

Jaune became skeptical of such thing, taking it with him on his adventure after giving a saddening farewell to his mentor. To join the war meant willing to put his life on the line to fight and win for one side of the war, where he would put himself to the test and learn what it meant to be alive and to save people.

This drive brought him on until he arrived in the kingdom on the eastern dragon known as 'Mistral'. A kingdom filled with lively people and their society, where trade, tournaments and conversation was held to astounding heights. It relieved Jaune that so many people were alive and happy, a small sheepish grin plastered over his lips. The blond glanced to the side to see high white walls topped off by red shingles angled in a V-like roofing. From within its borders, a majestic castle that had many floors, held lights and beauty he's never seen before during his time in Remnant. Vehicles that ranged from bullheads, cars and foreign individuals wandered the castle's grounds, as if tourists. Only instead, these 'tourists' were armed with weapons of high calibers, machine guns fused with tonfas, even snipers on spears.

It took time to register the thought that this could be the place to sign up for the war, venturing further into the crowd. It didn't occur to him that both Humans and Faunus were able to cooperate so freely like this, compared to other countries and villages he's seen that has had previous complications of both races to the extent that none were able to socialize to each other.

Jaune spotted the large sign hanging in the air, reading about registration for the war at one particular stall. The blond stopped infront of it, smiling down at the handler of the registrations, "I'm here to join the war."

The woman perked a brow, along with her head to see the owner of the voice as she had adorned a hood over her head to shade her from the sun, smiling back, "Oh, of course. Mistral would gladly accept volunteers as long as you have the capability to fight or aid in the war in any way." She retrieved a stack of papers from the side and settled one down infront of her, "May I ask your name, first off?"

Jaune chuckled lightly, nodding, "Jaune. Just Jaune."

Her fingers gripped the pen as she wrote it down, as she wrote down ' _John_ ' upon the name of the paper, "Welcome though," With a head raised and bright grin towards the blond teen, "I'm glad you're here to help."

As his world came to a slow, she removed her hood, revealing the crimson-bright hair set into a pony-tail, guarded by a bronze circlet. Her jade eyes made it even more alluring to take in every feature he could spot on her face, as she laughed softly. The gentle winds brushed against them. He faltered- only for a moment- only to sheepishly grin right back at her.

"My name is Pyrrha Nikos."


	6. The Stranger That Suffered Fate

**He one day saved the world; yet the world turned a blind eye on him.**

Jaune wasn't as much a hero, as he was a monster. For the world could have given him miraculously anything, he could take virtually everything, but refused with fear. The blond librarian sits upon the uprooted root of the tree, hands folded for him to tuck the lower half of his face against. His glasses were left unfixed, despite their loosely hanging state as they were on the verge of falling off at any given moment. But those dark sapphire eyes never lost their sharpness in focus.

"This world has seen the strongest, and Remnant has surely felt the most fearful." Said the crowned man in royal garbs, whose blond fuzzy hair was lengthy enough to reach the back of their neck at the base. He spoke in a way that remained cryptic, but Jaune knew it all too well, granted he was the one to provide such cryptic message, "I assume that there is not much left for you to withstand, Jaune…"

He wasn't wrong, in a way.

"Unless you are to make the world yours, and step forth, _Almighty_." The gray-furred Beowulf rose itself beside Jaune, lurking its head right over his shoulders with a saliva-filled mouth right open, "To take and conquer, you will not. But to venture and accept, you will do. The silver-eyed girl is concerning, just like the others you have come across. Though, you refuse to do anything of her, other than mingle. Why is this, _Almighty_?"

The urge to remain silent for the Grimm apparition was moderate, but it wasn't moderate enough to keep him from responding to it respectively, "… She reminds me of her is all."

Both Human and Grimm halt in their place, as if frozen in time, "I am incapable of life, and I'm just as incapable of saving others," The librarian mentioned with a sullen tone, "… so why would it matter if I can try letting myself cope with this feeling as long as I can?" His eyes would close, his breath becoming ragged, hesitation coloring it so. King Arthur, a high-standing king that had once been a hero in the past, and the greatest of kings that Remnant could offer. Beowulf, the king who accepted power and used it for the better of his people. The other, Gilgamesh, as the silent individual who sat at the top of the tree stared down upon Jaune. Their hair of spikey dark blonde that waved flat and slacked back, most of their body being covered in bandages wielding unrecognizable glowing gold runes and etchings.

"Leave me be…" He requested, standing up and taking off his glasses in the process. Jaune moved over to the librarian's desk as he got back to his usual work, signing the same old books back into the system and spotted a familiar object that rested against the side of the desk. With chipped edges, grime and soot aged into it, rusted edges, there slept a knife that he hadn't much use for since. It made him frown.

It has a name, and that name meant victory.

…

It wields a name, but to him, that name meant being powerless.

 **:: ' ::**

Ruby convinced herself that her luck had changed entirely eversince she met Jaune- and let's be honest here, it really has. She gained her popularity status because of his help back with the King Taijitu and the little girl. The amount of help she received from him when it came to her report- which utterly destroyed Weiss's composure for 'calm'. Soon enough, she was caught in a rather _compromising_ position with him after falling off the step-ladder and ending up on top of him.

She won't admit it, but she's blushing a little because of it.

"You alright, Rubes?" Yang perked a brow with a cheeky grin across her face. Oh how Ruby felt like smacking that off right now. Eversince that _incident_ in the library, Yang's always been teasing her little sister about how her sister's completely ' _fallen_ ' for the librarian. (Yes, that was her pun, shoo.) Jaune- on the other hand- went completely silent after Yang strolled into the library with everyone else and didn't really say anything other than pick himself back up and continuing with his work. It was like nothing phased him at all, to her surprise.

How were Blake and Weiss taking it? Glad you asked.

Because right now, they're sending constant glances to their young- valiant- leader and might as well be thinking about her relationship with the local blond librarian. The heiress was the first to break the awkward silence between the team as they studied in the school library, coughing into a fist and speaking, "I uh… we needn't think too much about what happened… _there_." Way to add the emphasis there, ice queen. "I _believe_ … that we should pretend nothing happened. _At all_."

Please.

The brawler of the team wasn't having any of that though, as expected- and misfortune, "What? You guys are just gonna let that gooooo?" She pestered, head slumping into the palm of her hand while leaning forward in her seat, "It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen! I mean, atleast I know what my sweet little sister's tastes are!"

A thud, and everyone's attention momentarily spanned out to see Blake just in time, who had lightly brought the book too close to her face and ended up booping herself in the nose with it. Her bow was twitching sporadically along with… steam coming out of the top of her head? Ruby at this point won't question anything.

"Yang, there's nothing between me and Jaune," Ruby whined, using one hand to cover the lower half of her face and hiding the shade of pink that flooded her cheeks. Those hateful silver eyes latched onto the blonde brawler, glaring with the intent to mentally murder her sister if she persisted, "It was an accident- I slipped off the ladder!"

A series of 'shushing' came from some others that wanted silence in their life, Ruby nervously down-tuning herself properly by taking a deep breath of air. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, nodding, "I agree… it was just… bad timing." She sounded like she was having a hard time to even _convince_ herself.

Groaning, Ruby stood up and slapped down her cards from their brief game of Remnant: The Game. Maybe she's had enough of her team for now, "You know what? Scratch this, I'm going out."

Her team shared the same look of confusion, wide eyes watching the youngest of them leave in a storm.

"Well that went out with a _Yang_."

Two foreheads met the table, along with the clattering of several other props used for the board game.

 **:: " ::**

"Stupid, stupid Yang… I'm not falling for him." Ruby muttered to herself, her hands clenched into fists while an ominous darkness overloomed her being. This caused some of the usual fans to backpedal and steer clear of her way, having feared her reputation was just as strong as her strength. This might've been a concern for safety too, with Doctor Oobleck holding up a sign attached to a stick that read: 'Caution; Avoid Red Storms' in a yellow triangle. Atleast he was considerate.

It was the weekend, and she wanted to atleast spend it by relaxing to the very most. But _no_ , her team-building activity had turned into a feast for Yang's constant torturing of agonizingly painful to the brain puns and teasing. She couldn't even talk to Blake or Weiss without either of them stuttering or breaking down on eye contact! Ruby pouted, pacing herself to the point she arrived at the courtyard and looked on ahead, her eyebrow raised when seeing someone in particular, as they were busy trying to sneakily take a swig at some metallic flask.

"Uncle Qrow?"

The caped adult felt the ends of his hair shoot straight up at the sudden voice, only to calm down when realizing that this was someone familiar that was addressing him from behind. A smirk came across his lips before he even needed to see who it was, "Hey, kid." He turned around to see his little niece, said niece already sticking herself onto his arm like a koala and grinning madly, "Uncle Qroooow! Did you miss me?!"

A chuckle left him, "… Nope." The two continued to smile at eachother before he eventually dropped her.

"What're you doing here?" Inquired little red riding hood, who laid on the ground at first before picking herself back up and dusting herself off.

"I'm on a mission for Oz'." He smirks, pocketing aside the flask, saying nothing more about it. Her uncle sounded rather nervous about that statement, but Ruby knew best of when not to pry into his personal business, "I gotta go see him in a bit-"

"Or you can see me right now." A different voice stated, leaving the two diverting their attention to the voice and recognizing the set of familiar faces. One being Glynda Goodwitch, the other being none other than the Headmaster, Ozpin.

"Or that." Qrow deadpanned and patted Ruby on the shoulder, "Sorry kiddo, gotta talk to them now. I'll catch you up later."

"Alright Uncle Qrow!" Ruby beamed, her hands tucked behind her back while nodding, "I'll let Yang know you're here too!"

"Hah, thanks."

With a prompt 'mhm!' from the little reaper, she started taking her leave from the three. Once Ozpin had made sure she was out of earshot, the headmaster set his eyes upon the usual drunkard, "… So?"

His agent merely perked a brow with Glynda simultaneously, his arms crossing as he donned a stern look, "… It's about _that_. We better take this up to your office."

The deputy and headmaster of Beacon nod as the trio made their way towards Ozpin's office. They didn't exchange any words.

 **:: / ::**

 _'I didn't expect to see Uncle Qrow here… but if he's got a job from the headmaster, it must be important.'_ Smart, Ruby, smart. Deducting the points all to yourself. The young prodigy's already notified her sister about their uncle's arrival, now all that mattered was when her uncle was free so they could have a 'catch-up' talk.

She pulled over her Achieve Men's cap and slipped on her disguise-meant shades, wandering through the streets of Vale to find something interesting to do again. Look on the bright side, atleast it isn't any more trouble that dealt with criminals or terrorists. Silver eyes drew to the bakery again, as it took some internally painful convincing for her not to try and stuff her mouth with cookies. It's seriously taken a toll on her wallet since the last time. Though, she found something that surprised her that wasn't a new type of cookie. Rather, a _person._

"… Jaune?"

A blond male glanced back behind him after he spent some time window-shopping at the bakery. Literally. She wouldn't have recognized him as easily if it weren't for his hair. Ruby rose an eyebrow at his attire, which consisted of faded jeans, converses and a black jacket. The girl'd admit, he didn't look _that_ bad when the eyepatch was finally off, revealing the natural dark sapphire eye that paired with his other, "Hey, you got your eye back!"

Maybe she sounded a little _too_ cheerful for that.

In response, she got a chuckle out of him after he realized who it was beneath that disguise, "And the first thing I get is a 'hey' and 'you got your eye back'? Alright, thanks Ruby," Jaune pocketed his hands into the warmness of his jacket's pockets, a sheepish grin sent to her, "Hello to you too. What brings you out here?"

"Oh, you know me… passing by, looking for something to do-"

"That doesn't involve Grimm or thugs in the street?" He interjected, making Ruby stutter with the rest of her speech and glare at him.

"N-no! I just wanted something fun to do around here, sheesh!" A playful punch to the shoulder was all she needed to physically get her revenge on him and become satisfied.

He rolled his eyes and grinned, "If you say so. I'm moving about Vale and trying to buy some supplies for the library since I'm running low on some things. Care to join?"

Judging by how happy she seemed to his question, it wasn't a surprise when she nodded, "Sure!"

The blond librarian gestured her to follow alongside him as the two strolled about Vale. The prodigy kept her hands folded together behind her back, her eyes glancing to the friendly blond now and then. It was strange for her to realize her own actions, her expression twisting into confusion when staring at the ground she walked upon. Oddly enough, she found herself feeling… warm.

"Is everything alright, Ruby? Don't tell me that guy who assaulted you at the park is still bothering you." Jaune- worried enough to even ask- looked down to her, frowning. Ruby stared into his eyes blankly, caught by completely surprise to his inquiry, leaving the two to make eye contact with one another. The brunette felt heated, lips quivering and hands shaking when looking up to the pondering blond. And again, Jaune spoke with palm raising to press against her forehead gently as he leaned over, "Ruby? Are you really okay? You're completely red."

It didn't click in her mind fast enough to register that Jaune was uncomfortably close, along with the feeling of a foreign hand contacting her forehead.

"I-I'm fine, Jaune! N-nothing bad h-here! T-totally fine!" Her arms raised- or, well- tried to. They were shaking with sharp movements, only extending as to as far as to her sides when flailing them effortlessly. Ruby's head tilted with her chin forward and forehead back from the pressure- both emotionally and physically. Silver irises darted from side to side, and ground to sky. They just couldn't find it easy to meet with the dark sapphire set that bore into her _being._

"Oh. Good to hear." Jaune's frown became a soft smile, the oblivious blond sliding his hand from her forehead and to her hair as he ruffled a hand through it playfully. It managed to soothingly ease Ruby's sense of nervousness, causing the popular huntress to lower her arms slowly to her sides and gaze at him. In some way, the feeling of being teased like Yang would do to her was evident, but it wasn't as strong enough for her to consider it Yang's level of being 'playful', "If anything happens, please let me know. I'd rather not see my friends getting hurt." The blond librarian chuckled, his hand moving away.

And already, Ruby started to miss the heart-warming moment shared between them physically. For a moment that they've shared, she had easily read a disguised expression of him from behind those words, a carried tone that wasn't meant to be there intentionally. One that she easily could've related to…

 _Pain._

Without a second thought, the petite huntress reached a hand out to clench his withdrawing one, catching him by surprise this time whilst her face remained a shade of red. Ruby tightly held Jaune's hand, her eyes unfaltering when peering into the blond's soul, "… Jaune." She said sternly, "I might not know what goes on with your life entirely… but you should know that I'm willing to be here for you. No matter what happens."

His eyes shot wide open, his hand tensing within hers. Ruby knew that she's managed to hit _somewhere._ The red-cloaked huntress considered him a friend, and a friend isn't someone she was so willingly free to leave behind! Regaining her composure, she took a deep breath and overlapped the back of his hand with her other hand, cupping it, "You're a great guy, you're positive whenever I see you, and sure sometimes you're more mysterious than anyone I've ever seen… it doesn't help the fact that you're a great friend too. I know the feeling of losing something or someone close to you. Thank you for caring for me so much, Jaune." Ruby tried to make a sheepish grin that he'd always make towards her, "So let me return the favors as much as I can."

It was confidence that was instilled into her, one that she openly accepted. The red-cloaked huntress didn't feel so shaky anymore, and despite her heart's erratic beats earlier, it's managed to calm down to a degree. Jaune's tension settled in when his shoulder relaxed. He was smiling back genuinely, the light tint of red evident on his cheeks. He nods, "… Thanks, Ruby."

 **:: ? ::**

"Are you _sure_ you're not going to fall off this time?" The blond inquired, holding up his hands to try and keep Ruby from falling off the step ladder again. They were already back at the library again, with Ruby trying to put the books back in. It wasn't too long ago that they got back with some shopping bags and the supplies that Jaune needed to cross off his list.

She wasn't even aware they still sold twinkies.

Ruby figured that to pass time, she may as well settle in with hanging out with Jaune for today. If it either meant work or just simple chilling. Either would do, and each being equally comforting. Jaune crosses his arms by the time she was done and had gotten down, "One of these days, you'll really worry me if you want to be tall simply because you like looking down on people or jumping off things higher than you." He received a punch in the shoulder for that one.

She took a glance to the list that Jaune provided to her to help her figure out which books had went where. On this particular sheet had read the books, their number and a date for when it was returned or checked out to ensure that books were properly accounted for. The brunette's eyes stared down the list to eventually come across a book title that was scratched off with marker. Yet, the date and number to it remained. "Hey, Jaune?"

The blond librarian turned around with another pile of books within his arms, "Need something?"

"Why did you scratch off the book title to this one? It says it's still checked out- and it was checked out _years_ ago."

"Oh… that." His expression remained neutral when he went under thought, then became a grin. He shrugs, handing Ruby a book, "I let a friend of mine from a long time ago keep that, I keep the date and number there so whenever they _do_ come back and turn it in, I can make a legit complaint of how long they've had my book despite me letting them keep it."

Ruby blinked, her silver eyes donning confusion before sighing, "If you say so…"

The entrance bells to the library rung, indicating that someone had entered. Jaune looked back to Ruby, setting the books on the table and waiting for Ruby to get down, "I'll go see who it is. Just make sure you put those books where they belong and I'll be back shortly. Oh, and don't fall off the step ladder." He patted her on the head, Ruby responding with a pout and a blush, "Jerk." She mutters. "Thanks Ruby, depending on you." The blond library had hurried off to the desk.

The famous huntress rose a hand to her chest, huffing almost loudly as her head bobbed down. Has she always felt this way? It didn't feel normal- or natural. Her hand then rose to her head, a ghostly feeling of Jaune's hand being ontop of hers lingering. Her lips quivered. _'… What's wrong with me?'_

Sighing, the petite girl walked over to the books and began reorganizing them properly. By the time she reached a shelf, she couldn't help but hear the conversation- given how deathly quiet the library is almost all of the time.

"You have a nice library." A woman stated, causing Ruby to freeze in place and stare blankly to the empty shelf.

"Hm. Thanks…" That was Jaune's voice, sounding very disinterested as to the current topic he was holding with whoever it was.

"I think you have some books that I would be… _very_ eager to borrow for some time, if you wouldn't mind, librarian?"

"I know what books you're here for- and I'm still going to have to deny you of any access to them. They're personal."

Ruby took a peek around the corner to see a mop of blond hair, and across from them, three other individuals. Two of them were off to the side, sitting comfortably in bean-bag chairs. One was dark skinned and wielded bright green hair. The other, a gray-themed character who seemed more focused to his video game in hand. The third had been a woman- a woman who Ruby could imagine easily of some people falling for the appearance of. Luscious black hair, amber eyes and smooth pale complex.

 _'Does Jaune think she looks nice..? Probably… I can probably understand why Jaune would like her…'_ Her internal mind said dejectedly, in which Ruby immediately snapped her head up and blinked, realizing what she had just thought of. She shook her head wildly, _'What did I just think of..?!'_

"I'm sure we can make some kind of…" The woman's voice trailed off as it became seductive, "… _deal_ just between _us_?" She begun leaning against the front desk- well, somewhat _over_. Her elbow planted into the wooden surface to support her head while her other arm extended out to rest a hand against the blond's cheek. Ruby couldn't tell his expression because of the angle she was looking at. Although, something within her was boiling mad and furious while she unconsciously gripped the edges of the wooden bookcase, leaving cracks and splinters when her silver eyes glared holes into the woman who touched Jaune.

The young huntress hadn't understood why she was acting this way, but the urge to run over there and kick _woman_ away from Jaune was nearing the rim of the bucket with her.

"No."

The librarian said, and he says it with a tone that renders the entire library dead. Not a single sound nor beat is made for three entire seconds, time that even made all occupants in the room stop breathing just to realize what he said. Jaune carried the tone of an experienced speaker- one who had been adamant of something long enough to easily say 'no' in the most intimidating way possible.

In the next second, she saw the attractive woman scowl and back away from him immediately, turning to the other still-shocked two that accompanied her, "Emerald. Mercury. We're leaving." Her hateful amber eyes turned to Jaune the next second, "… Don't think I'll stop my pursuit of those _books_ , Jaune. I _will_ have them eventually."

"… Today's simply not the day then, _Cinder_."

Him and Ruby watched the trio leave the building, the slamming of the library entrance causing some of the glass on the walls to distort faintly. She heard Jaune sigh, seeing as he scratched the back of his head. Probably to relieve some stress off his shoulders, "They're a trouble trio, don't mind them."

Ruby blinked. Was he talking to someone else? She looked about, and didn't see anyone else other than him. The blond turned around and faced her direction with a smug grin,

"I'm talking to _you,_ Rubes."

Her head recoiled back, feeling heat rise to her face. And still, she wasn't in control of how hard her heart was beating.

 **:: . ::**

Jaune waved Ruby off as she took the bullhead back to her academy after walking with her to the airships. Watching as her bullhead left, Jaune pocketed both of his hands into the contents of his hoodie.

 _'She reminds you a lot about her, doesn't she?'_

"…" He didn't want to reply to that, and instead, frowned. It was an emotion he couldn't resist himself from doing, no matter what he did. He felt the world's weight on him once again now that she was gone, but he did his best to disregard it the best he could've. Maybe it was a memory's confliction that he was forced to feel this way? He'd never know until he found the answer within himself.

 _'Many years have passed, and so many faces have come and gone. Some by your hand, some by mine.'_

"Shut up." The librarian growled lowly as he glared at the ground. Jaune began making way back to the library, a facial feature of scowling remaining on his face. He wanted to make it stop, but he knew it was the facts. The pain of his migraine only grew the more he questioned it himself when he should've learned to ignore it those years ago.

 _'Tell me something, Jaune.'_

"… shut up." He had said more lowly.

"When will you take the time to learn to adapt?" _Her_ voice had echoed through his mind, causing the blond to stop within the empty street and cringe. In the midst of the night, her emerald-glowing eyes shone through to meet his shining dark cobalt ones. The dominance of the broken moon's light dawning over the two.

"…" Jaune looked back to the ground, "I don't know." The blond continued, walking around Pyrrha as she hadn't bothered turning around. Her hair and waist-cloth blew amongst the silent winds. He could hear her. Her need to take a deep breath, but he didn't want to continue through this agonizing pain.

"The world is cruel on you; I know it the most, Jaune." She stated, but he went on.

"… Then why does it do this to me?" He asked with bitterness, stopping infront of his library and looking up to the dimly lighted sign. His eyes remained half-lidded, but any who could just as easily read expressions could read the sadness evident in his eyes, "I've come a long way… and through that way, I was late… for everything."

There was no longer a voice to reply to him, nothing that was made from his excessive capacity to make himself apparitions to imagine, not even the bodiless voice that haunted him.

And so the world fell silent.

Jaune sighs lightly, his hand reaching for the door's handle. Stopping mid-way to watch as a shadow instantly loomed over him, along with the shining glint of a silver dagger coming down upon his head.

 **:: ::**

"Are you _certain_ of this, Qrow?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." He took a swig from his flask before continuing, "It's **here** , Vale. Every source leads me to believe it's here, and judging by how there's practically nothing else out there in the world saying it's elsewhere, it'll be here."

"Blasphemy. It could be out there in the wilds of the Grimm-!" Glynda had been promptly interjected.

"-if it was, then Ironwood would've said something about seeing it, or other people that'd sound like lunatics out in the middle of the streets." Qrow had transferred from Glynda to Ozpin, his hands slamming against the top of the desk, "Oz', we don't know what it could be or what it would look like because of all the different legends it has, but it _has_ to be here. There's no way it's elsewhere."

Ozpin held up a hand, sighing discontently into his cup of coffee, "This is rather 'shocking' news, I hope you know… but not everything is considerably 'normal'…" The headmaster set his drink down and folded his hands beneath his chin, "Which name will we refer to it by for the time being..?"

 _The blond librarian stood his ground as two blades met with one another. One being a combat knife, the other being a dagger with elegant designs etched into its sides with a bronze handle. The darkly-dressed individual planted their feet quietly into the ground on landing, both of the sharp-sided weapons struggling for dominance. Jaune's sight locked upon the assassin with crimson irises. On the side of the combat knife were two colorless crescent arcs that were etched into the side._

Qrow replied darkly,

"… **Crocea Mors**."


	7. The Stranger That Came To Beacon

**He is suffering. But that suffering was never enough to kill him.**

Jaune's eyes locked with the crimson irises, the eyes belonging to none other than the assailant infront of him. Darkly dressed in terms of clothing and headwraps, the dagger-wielding foe was undoubtedly a woman, judging by the shaping of her body and stance. Their weapons remained locked with one another, each unwilling to withdraw- actions dictated by those of the wielders.

This _assailant_ \- he was well aware of since the beginning of when he had dropped Ruby off at the docking station for the Bullheads. They've been tracking him since the beginning, and it was about time they've pulled a move to signify their standing as of right now. To the assassin- she had wondered what made this man so terrifying that the one she was working under needed to send someone to _assassinate_ him out of all people. All the crimson-eyed assassin saw was a plain old boring individual who's clearly been too tired to care about anything at this point. She could even tell by the darkened bags that were visible beneath his eyes at this time of hour. His level of _'caring'_ unnerved her internally though.

Did he not care that he was being targeted to be assassinated? His steadiness and grip is stern, not even budging an inch since the beginning of their little interaction. With one more long look into his eyes; the assassin had made a mistake that may as well have lead to her demise… because she had _seen_ it.

His eyes weren't natural- and not in the way that his eyes were dark blue and seemed so empty- but the fact that they were hardened and sharply focused that it _frightened_ her to such an extent that she was _internally screaming_ at herself to back away. Instinctively, she did.

And she found herself in the right spot to do so.

Looking at the ground with terrified eyes, she noticed the line that cut deep through the concrete ground that sown itself through somehow when the blond librarian's sharp edge had come downward after she had retreated. The dark red eyes trace to his weapon- which was nothing more than just a simple kitchen knife. That's when a thought had kicked into her mind, one that shouted at her that maybe _it_ was the one thing her and her accomplices have been seeking all this time! There was no way for a normal kitchen knife to be capable of accomplishing such a feat!

Now ready more than ever, the assassin lunged forward with a long stride, her engraved dagger thrusted for his throat in a bold action to kill him off just as quickly. It didn't come as a surprise when knife came up to spark against hers once again, preventing her from doing such a thing. But her decision came with a plan, as the assassin swiftly swung her other hand towards the handle of the blond's knife to swipe it from his hand forcefully.

Not all had went to her plan when a bandaged hand had met with the oncoming swipe just as easily and blocked it off, the librarian's eyes looking dully towards her line of sight. _'Was he expecting this?! Is he capable of reading people's attacks?!'_ This immediately painted a massive red 'X' over the blond, one that just as easily indicated that this man alone was a high-priority target. A single man easily making the assassin's top list of potential threats. The woman pulled away from his grip, bringing the rest of her blade down to cut across his hand as if cutting through- butter?

 _Drip._

The red-eyed assailant looked to the end of her weapon to see the red liquid that dripped to the ground just off the tip of it. As she looked up, she realized that she had just cut across the back of his hand with the edge of her weapon. But… this was strange- didn't this man have aura? He surely looked old enough to have it by default- was he already out of aura somehow? The red lining that drew across his hand was enough evidence that he clearly _didn't_ , but still, it didn't help the fact that he was impeccably too strong for a natural human being without aura. Sure, killing him should've been easy, though his skill alone was something that may as well terrify the most experienced fighters out in the field.

She didn't have the leisure to take this knowledge into her advantage, she'd be treading through dangerous waters to even think that. All at the same time, she knew he was toying with her, and she came to hate it. Willing to take the slightest of risks of possibility to revealing her identity, she was curios enough to ask: "… You're _toying_ with me." Her voice was laced with hate and malice.

"… No." He replied flatly, his preferred weapon knife brought down to his side as he stood at an angle, "I'm merely abiding your wish."

She had blinked, finding it incredulous that he'd say that from all expectations she's had, _"… Wish_?"

Jaune's eyes narrowed upon her figure, but more importantly, her eyes in return, "You want to live after this ordeal… don't you?"

A head reared back, and the assassin was simply more than just 'confused', "W-… what do you mean?"

"You intend on living after this." The librarian stated- and he said it in a way that… he _sounded sympathetic_ , "I… don't have a right to kill you. Neither do I want to take a life away." Was he taking pity on her? The assassin interpreted his message as an insult. She wanted to interpret it in that way.

Sadness? He sounded honest and his lack of aura made it all too hard to say that it was a lie. What was he trying to accomplish here?

Unconsciously, the woman's body lost tension, relaxing for the moment, "I was sent here to _kill_ you."

"I want to send you back _alive_." He shot back blankly.

The assailant's breath hitched, finding herself in a tight situation that didn't allow her space to verbally respond. Jaune began moving again, and he moved with a fluent motion that didn't cause her any alarm of hostility, "As much as I don't want other people killing others… I'm only a simple man with dreams too decayed to remain determined to." Jaune let go of his knife, and when the knife hit the ground…

It would clatter with thunking, hollow sounds that rendered the assassin into disarray. With a careful examination from where she was, she could tell that Jaune was eyeing her carefully, but the sound that the knife made upon dropping… it could only come to one conclusion.

"Wood?" Her voice cracked with disbelief. She spectated the man's next action, which was nothing more than a mere nod.

It didn't make sense- the cut in the ground, how did he manage to accomplish such feat with a _wooden_ knife?

"You… you still could've killed me." Shock remains evident in her tone, red eyes trail to sapphire.

"I didn't." The blond librarian replied, his hands sliding into his pockets casually, "I don't want to."

Something burned from the pit of her stomach, and it boiled with a renewed source of fuel. Anger, rage, she was furious- furious that he hadn't been taking her seriously this whole time. She believed herself to be strong enough to take on anyone aside from her female accomplice- it made it even harder to quit when the realization smacked her right dab in the face that… this was _humiliation_ to her.

Her teeth visibly gritted and her knuckles whitened from beneath the fabric worn. "Take… me seriously… damn it." Her breathing became heavy while she bore holes into the side of the blond's head with her eyes. Her muscles were twitching violently, her heart beat against her chest heavily.

Jaune looked to the darkly-clothed assassin with a neutral gaze, and he didn't seem the least bit phased. It had been clear that this woman wanted to come here to seek a challenge if she was to fail to finish her target off in one swift attack. And to fight seriously… meant something that he didn't want to do- for the sake of others. It was always for the sake of others. Wouldn't this be considered the sake for another- according to his morals?

The knife within her grasp was swapped to two light-bronze revolvers. Spinning each individually within her hands, she had proven herself to be a gunslinger by default. The woman aimed down the sights upon the blond-headed target, silence whistling through the air of the unnervingly quiet and empty courtyard of the library, "… Pick up your weapon." She had demanded, discarding the regard that it was even wooden to begin with.

Jaune eyed the wooden knife he let drop to the floor from earlier, and shook his head, closing his eyes and lowering his head slightly, "…" Her fingers gave a light squeeze on the triggers. Not enough to actually release the dust rounds chambered into them though. Tension is at an all-time high between the two fighters. His voice echoed throughout the courtyard and forced the winds to stop completely.

"I'm sorry… but me taking things ' _seriously_ '…"

That's when she felt it- from that echoing, spectral-filtered voice that vibrated the air itself and caused ripples in the ground, to the distortion of the domain and… piecing of _the moon_?

Her arms shook with fear, when the rest of her body told her that she was ready for something that she couldn't see coming. Her vision was blurring. Hyperventilation? No, it couldn't be…

That dark, solemn look he gave… it told many stories, and it told many expressions. It spoke of a man who's been through so much to understand universally all the pains that humanity could attain. His half-lidded and near-colorless eyes narrated the amount of regret he's felt accumulated on his shoulders that even the world couldn't bear. A body riddled with pain and terrorizing pasts that should've lead to eventual death or maybe even suicide… but even that wouldn't solve anything.

Slowly, he slid off his glasses. And it revealed…

A tired… helpless man… who couldn't find hope in any corner he'd scavenge.

"… may one day kill you."

 _'Endure… Jaune. You must…'_ The bodiless voice was becoming distant to his ears, a voice that the assassin couldn't hear.

 _'… save… the world.'_

 _'Save… the world.'_ The bodiless voice pleaded, wanting to reach the blond's ears, a wailing attempt to get the blond to prevent his sinning.

 _'Save the world.'_ It repeated.

But it would never save Jaune.

 _"Destroy it."_ Jaune demanded with a low growl when he forced himself to glare at the darkly attired woman infront of him.

The full moon sits overhead with not a single piece left afar. The terrain shifted from a simple courtyard that he once knew to a dirt-filled battlefield, mounds built for the mass burial of many, and discarded weapons aged away by time.

Corpses.

None of this that the assassin could see- and only the suffering blond who sinned particularly for this.

Fake, warm arms of an apparition left their arms wrapped around his neck, but he heeded no mind to it. Pyrrha tucked her head close to the side of Jaune's own, only to disintegrate into nothingness as those arms let go slowly.

 _'Save the world..!'_ That voice joined the apparition, becoming an aspect of the void.

"I'm sorry," The blond apologized softly, leaving the red-eyed female to question his abrupt apology, "I was too powerless… to stop _anything_."

His bright sapphire eyes directly met eye-contact with hers, and his eyes were the only denotation of the purely white and black version of Remnant, where not even the shade of all grays existed. Every black outline was bizarrely distorted vertically, each changing length every millisecond. The surface is black, the skies are white… **and the moon is completely shattered**.

She froze, and it wasn't by his domination of authority, but her mind screeching like a banshee when it came to desiring safety. Her body was demanding of the same thing, both mind and body wanting to go different routes but just couldn't meet a conclusion. Her irises became as small as dots, the clanking unsteady shaking of her weapons trained upon the moon went haywire. She felt… _weak_. Absurdly weak. She laid eyes upon something that shouldn't have ever been awoken, and something that would permanently traumatize her from the live experience.

To come across someone like the librarian… _is an embodiment of a nightmare._

His tears descended down his cheeks when he held up a hand and held it out to her, his expression filled with a grim look that only spoke in degrees of regret. Why did he want to cry..? She would never know.

All she saw now… was the deathly glaring massive eye the size of an Atlesian battleship gazing down at her with two crescent arcs as an pupil. A roar the next second, one forcing her entire body into completely shut down involuntarily as she collapsed to her knees and dropped her weapons in an instant. Her tear-filled face gazing only at the ground as she entirely broke internally.

Her body rejected to look up, though shakily managed to raise her head feebly to see the entity before her… only an easily read expression of a _terrified child_ donned over her face. The librarian stared down upon her, a scythe in his hand as the curved blade of it was tipped down to the ground with the headless end facing towards the pure white skies. Jaune's body manifested into pitch blackness, and only his right eye highlighted with white and the respective color of his iris.

 _'_ … _And so the world fell.'_

 **:: + ::**

Qrow planted a foot infront of the crack in the ground, perking a brow towards it as the daylight began seeping through the horizon. _'Someone must've stomped their foot really hard.'_ He assumed as he opened the door to the library and entered, taking a glance about the library's interior build before setting eyes upon the teen who occupied themselves into putting books into a bin.

A grin plastered across his lips as he walked up to the desk and leaned against it with both arms, catching the blond's attention as Jaune looked over, "Oh, hello. May I help you?" The blond blinked, setting aside the current books in his hands to address the caped individual respectfully.

"Yes… I was wondering if you could help me- well, not just _me_ particularly." Qrow chuckled and casually pointed a finger towards the civilian, "Me and some friends at Beacon are in need of some books and… let's just say we're going to need some helpful books to prevent a disaster that'll fall upon Vale. We're here to try and prevent it at all costs."

Jaune couldn't help but rear his head back slightly at the words transmitted to him, "I'm… I'm sorry, so you need my _books_ to prevent a _catastrophe_?"

The usual drunkard snapped his fingers with a smirk, " _Yes_."

"Ooooo…kay?" A few more blinks, and the blond was still confused, but didn't look like he was going to question it fully. The raven-haired hunter glanced over the blond's shoulder to see a plate stacked with cookies. Jaune had caught his eyes and glanced behind him to take note of it, shrugging to the hunter after looking back to Qrow, "Would you… like some?"

"Hm…" Qrow had hummed, watching as a plate of cookies was slid infront of him, "I hope you don't mind then. Thanks, kid." He took a cookie and proceeded to bite into it, humming in delight as he took in the taste of said cookies, then hummed again in approval.

"It's Jaune, by the way."

"-right, Jaune. Name's Qrow Branwen." He muffled out in the midst of ravaging a cookie in his mouth, "I think my niece'd like these cookies, I should tell her 'bout this place."

The librarian felt like this was going somewhere that he'd eventually have to come across, should this hunter decide to pry into it more in the future, "… 'Niece'?"

"Yep. She's got a thing for cookies."

 _'This sounds familiar.'_ Jaune frowned when providing himself that thought, picking up a book hesitantly and preparing to file it into a bin, "Sounds like an addiction to me."

He watched as the visitor walked to the back, grabbing a basket to begin a scavenger hunt for specific books, "You bet." He said audibly from the staircase, and it wasn't like he was bothering anyone… no one even comes here around the time of hour it was now- which was the beginning of morning.

"What do you know about a legend called ' _The Lost Soldier_ '?" The caped figure inquired when literally hopping from floor to floor with a basket tied to his waist with a rope.

Jaune tried _hard_ not to get too distracted by the hunter's antics, continuing through the books that awaited repositioning. That question that was shot towards him was rather… _unexpected_ though, stopping him mid-process, "That book..? It's rather… old." He said audible enough to be heard throughout the entire library for Qrow to hear.

The blond sighs lightly, planting his elbows onto the desk counter and stared at the ceiling for his memory to reserve him once again.

"The story of a soldier from long ago who's strayed far from what his intentional goals were, wasn't it?"

"That ain't the whole story." Qrow shot back when _'monkeying'_ around.

No, Jaune supposes he was right though, "You're talking about the tale where a soldier from hundreds of years ago who fought in the very first war once the main four kingdoms were established. The first war took place when an Empire known as 'Eas' was rising and attempting to dominate the other four kingdoms. "

The hunter popped his head out from behind a bookcase with a risen index finger, "That's the one, Jaune. Now can you recall what happened to that soldier?"

"Many said he had 'lost' when participating in The First War. Ironically, his siding with the Vytalian Alliance was a crucial part in winning The First War against the Empire to begin with. They said he lived on as a legend, and with his legendary status, he ventured the world searching for _something_. Many years after The First War, it was said that a hunter sighted a stranger who was willing to lend a hand against an army of Grimm with a small group as small as twenty people- and took the storm of the battle against the Grimm to the point an evacuation wasn't even needed. That was rumored to be the Lost Soldier. Then…" Jaune's voice trailed off as his eyes met the edge of the counter, his mind trying to process his memory even faster than before.

It was oddly quiet, Qrow only standing by the edge of the second floor's walkway with arms leaning against the railing, gazing at the silent blond from across the room.

"It's said that he also took part of the Great War- alongside the first Huntress to be given the title of 'Hero'."

"That's right." The raven-haired hunter approached Jaune's desk with a basket of books in his arm, "There's a strange thing about that legend."

Jaune blinked, raising an eyebrow, "… Can you elaborate, sir?"

"Qrow," He wanted to make that correction rather than sounding old, "That… is the story of Crocea Mors. It's somehow linked to the Lost Soldier's own in many versions written by others in many different views. It's 'bout time I got going before an old friend of mine gets impatient, I'll return these books in good condition, so don't worry 'bout them too much."

The teen chuckled, nodding, "I know, I know." He began checking out the books before handing them to Qrow individually, "Here. And what's it about Crocea Mors you're looking into?"

"…" Qrow went shifty-eyed and sighs, as if deciding against a strict code to say it anyway, "The Lost Soldier supposedly has Crocea Mors- if he's still out there… and we're in need of Crocea Mors' power in the midst of the conflict we're having right now. If this legend about the Lost Soldier is still alive and about, then we're out to find him. But we're looking at Crocea Mors the most."

The librarian frowns, nodding, "Understandable… I shouldn't take up any more of your time, enjoy your day."

Qrow smiled and waved his hand when approaching the exit, "Thanks, I'll drop by sometime. Maybe I'll bring my niece here-"

"Is… Ruby Rose your niece by any chance?"

The hunter paused, his stance unchanged, "… She is."

"She drops by here every day- it's kind of why I had a plate of cookies from earlier, incase if you were wondering."

"…"

"…"

A finger points to Jaune, and instantly, Jaune realized the mistake he's made from his curiosity.

"We're gonna need you too."

 **:: - ::**

To say that he wasn't unnerved by the fact he was practically _dragged_ into something shady by some guy in a tattered red cape wasn't so bad:

Was an understatement.

Someone please save him.

"John-? Apologies, but is that your name?"

"… Jaune." He corrected, currently facing the one who is apparently the headmaster of the academy that Ruby goes to. Ozpin. (I always did wonder the difference between the pronunciations of the names.) "I uh… why am I here exactly?" He didn't know honestly of what lead to this point- he was just dragged by some wild man with a cape here.

A sigh was let loose from the headmaster's lungs, pushing up the frame of his glasses up to the bridge of his nose to get them properly adjusted- and morely out of irritation, "The man you've met that brought you here- Qrow- suggested that we… _'interrogate'_ you just so we know his niece is safe. In addition to that, you seem to have knowledge on forgotten legends, young man. How have you come to know of these legends, despite them being lost in all of Remnant's records hundreds of years ago?"

Jaune's eyes fell upon the desk, a frown placed over his lips as he furrowed his brows, "… I use to know some… _'old'_ … friends. He was a man who… well, told me stories that I've never heard before- and stories that he's claimed were long gone before the Great War."

Silence sat inbetween the two. It was eventually broken when Ozpin decided to stand up and make his way around the desk and to the elevator, in which Jaune turned around to see what the Headmaster's next action would be. "Come with me, Jaune. I wouldn't mind giving you a tour of Beacon whilst our little conversation."

Reluctantly, Jaune followed and politely slid his chair back into place. Trailing after the man, the blond librarian took one more examination of the office's unique aspects and entered the elevator with Ozpin. Not too long, and the two were already making their way about the courtyard without words being exchanged midway.

"I was informed you own library."

"That's true. Most of the books I have there are old- but I've kept them in good condition."

"It's good that you do so. Qrow's told me there's rarely any people that come into your library."

"There's _some_. I think he's only been in my library only once though… not sure how he came to that conclusion. "

"He _is_ good at inspecting and investigating things. I rely on him to find most things I request of him afterall." Ozpin smirked and stopped with Jaune, making a glance towards the stone monument that had sat there, "Ah, here we are. Jaune, this monument was created after the hero and heroine who fought to slay Grimm during Humanity's greatest efforts. It was the most important of times that Faunus and Humans would communicate with one another to fight back against the Grimm when they were at their largest. But not all battles were won, infact, we had been losing for a long period of time. That was until they had shown up, and lighted the way to victory."

Jaune blinked, his head slightly tilting, "Where did they come from though?"

A chuckle let loose from the aged man, "That's the gold question I had been hoping you'd ask, Jaune." The headmaster continued his walk, resuming the conversation of the mysterious legend, "You see, that man had come from nothing- no one had known him, no one had expected him. But that woman was someone that everyone knew, and someone that everyone had come to love. It's strange, isn't it? How some enigmatic man had come to be a hero that no one still knows the name of, but can only recognize him as the one who contributed the most in the war against the Grimm?"

The blond turned away from the headmaster, eyeing the statue carefully. It was already an answer he knew of, and it went unsaid that he didn't feel like answering the man's questions any further within the relative topic. Instead, Jaune placed his hands into his hoodie's pockets, "I suppose it is… thank you for the history lesson." He didn't imply any sarcasm in it either.

"You're most welcome. I'm rather thankful Qrow had brought you here, I wouldn't have met quite an interesting individual today. That aside, I intended on making a request, hearing about your knowledge and your library."

"Hm? What's that?" Jaune inquired curiously.

"I would like to ask for your assistance in maintaining Beacon's library. You see, we have only one librarian, and they are about to retire. Some students volunteer to aid the library, but we're looking into having a new full-time librarian that is willing to help organize books and- if you may- add to the collection. Books, to me, are what I perceive as power and not only knowledge."

The blond librarian frowns.

"Hunters from all across the world are also people, and not merely individuals who enter the field of battle to protect the weak. Admittedly, humans will fight humans, Faunus will fight Faunus. Otherwise, it's a free-for-all inbetween the two races. But with information and reading, will we expect the truest of improvement when coming to terms with ourselves." The headmaster stated as the two entered the library, Jaune sighting the many books that rested within bookshelves and wider space than what his library ever had.

"What I am requesting of you, simply put, is for you to become our new head librarian. Despite of your age- perceivably- you're someone who I can find myself trusting, whether or not we've known each other long enough to have the capability to make logic of."

Hesitantly, Jaune took a deep breath and set eyes upon the empty chair that was bound to have the new librarian sitting in, "… and if I accept?"

Ozpin smiled, sipping from his mug of coffee, "… Then with all due greetings: welcome to Beacon."

 **:: - ::**

"The new guy looks pretty hot. Have you seen his scars?" One from the group of girls had said softly enough for Ruby to hear from afar, as the group had strolled down the corridor together.

Ruby could only glance back over her shoulder while walking amongst her own team, RWBY. The crimson leader hugging her book tightly to her chest and seeing the rest of her team mates also look over their own shoulders to hear what the passing group had said.

As of right now, the team had come across many problems. The White Fang, Roman Torchwick, Grimm, and so on. But what they didn't come across was gossiping and rumors that made them all too curious to know what everyone was speaking about. To hear word of a new character popping up in the scene of Beacon and how everyone had been speaking of them, team RWBY felt like prying into the scenario and figuring out who this 'new person' was.

They came to a group consensus to check it out, splitting up ways to find answers. With Weiss, Blake and Yang heading off on their own ways, Ruby was left alone. Now here comes another problem: where to start?

 _'Hngh.'_ She internally cringed as she went through her scroll. All she could stare at was the list of contacts on her phone- but that only consisted of so little people. Her contact list wasn't that large, and if it was going to be large, it'd mainly be because of how popular she's become. Thankfully, the rabid fans that tried to greet her calmed down over time, so that wasn't much of an issue to her any longer. _'Where do I even begin..?'_ Ruby sighed, the petite huntress looking left to right of the corridors.

Sadly, she wasn't paying attention to what was infront of her.

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

"gehwlkwoge!"

Two thuds had hit the ground, and a sound of shattering glass at the same time. Wincing, Ruby felt a throbbing from her forehead as she looked up to see the long brown-haired individual with bunny ears twitching atop their head, "V-Velvet? Sorry, I should've looked where I was going."

"Ah, no it's fine…" The accented Faunus took Ruby's hand when it was offered, soon picking up the books scattered across the floor, "It was a sharp corner I had to take anyways, besides, the classroom I'm supposed to deliver this to is near here."

Ruby eyed all of the books, and then to the side where she would peek through a classroom door to find a window shattered and some people crowding around said window to look down through it. She paid little mind to it, returning to Velvet, "These are a lot of books…"

Velvet's ear twitched, carrying the tower of books in her arms, "Ah, yes, I suppose it is. With the new librarian coming in and all these new books with them, it's only natural that some teachers wanted some of the new books to try reading into it and seeing what they could learn."

"New librarian? We have a new one?" The little reaper found herself intrigued by this, head tilting slightly while looking around the side of the books. Velvet nodded to her with a grin.

"Mhm. Apparently he had all of these books no one's ever heard of before and some teachers saw it, so all of them requested some books. Now all the people who were volunteering to help before are getting to deliver these books and read some of it on their own. We even have more students helping out than usual." Her eyes shifted to the side with a defying smirk. _'All of them are girls though.'_

"Oh that's cool! I should go see them then while I can." Ruby grinned ear-to-ear, placing her hands on her hips.

"You should." Velvet internally chuckled at the possible reaction Ruby might have soon enough, "I think he's in the library right now."

The caped girl nods, waving to Velvet as she jogged around the Faunus, "Later Velvet!"

"Later Ruby!" The bunny-Faunus turned her head to see the broken window in the classroom, a bead of sweat coming down her temple. _'… Did something happen?'_

 **:: * ::**

The leader of RWBY texted the others on her scroll about the new librarian. It didn't take too long for all of them to come to the conclusion that the new librarian might be the _'new guy'_ everyone rumored about. Although, it looks like Yang had a club to go to, Weiss on business with her recently-arrived sister, Winter, and Blake heading out to… whatever she does.

The huntress took it upon herself to go and see, and by the time she arrived at the library, the library _definitely_ looked different now. With more books added to the collection, the shelves were packed with books to the extent that some books needed to be neatly stacked ontop of one another on some desks. There were more people filling the library, but all of them working to get the books filed in properly and others setting up what looked to be counters and furniture with appliances.

She didn't understand too much about the coffee maker sitting on one desk, but it reminded her about… Jaune's library.

Ruby blinked, looking down to the ground when the reminder came. It's only been a day ago that she was last there, and wished that she could head back there again. _'Oh, I need to go see the new librarian… that's right.'_ Ejecting those thoughts out of her mind, the brunette made her way to the front counter to see the back of a blond-haired individual who was busy organizing the shelf hanging in the back.

"Good afternoon. I hope I'm not-" Her body flinched. She recognized that attire… and it's definitely _familiar_. "… _Jaune_?" She gasped in surprise.

The blond rose his head and turned his head, the azure-eyes blinked at her with the same expression before becoming a sheepish grin with one uneasy hand raising into the air, "… Hey, Ruby. How're you?"

Ruby couldn't hold back the toothy smile, bouncing towards the counter and lifting herself somewhat off the ground by resting her arms straight against the counter's edge, looking at Jaune with wide eyes, "What are you doing here?!" She said in a hushed voice, " _You're_ the new librarian?!"

He chuckles, walking to the desk and raising a hand, "… Yep." He rested a hand on her head, pushing her back down so her feet would touch the ground, then proceeded to run his hand through her hair playfully, "I remembered you went to school here to be a huntress, so I thought I'd surprise you."

The young prodigy blushed, but continued to grin to her close friend, "It worked." She admitted, "So how did you get here? I mean, how'd you get into contact with the headmaster? I thought he had to be the one to hire anyone here!"

Jaune laughed lightly at the inquiries, "I met the headmaster. I actually came here thanks to your uncle." _'He kind of dragged me here, actually.'_ He didn't feel like telling her that.

"Uncle Qrow?!" Ruby's head rears back in shock.

"Yep. He came by my library and brought me here." Atleast none of that was a lie.

"So this means… I get to see you every day!" The huntress in red beamed. Just as Jaune was about to say something else, they noticed something out of place as the two looked around simultaneously to find all the individuals within the library staring at them. An awkwardly quiet library that not even a fly could be heard.

Though, most of them seemed to be glaring. Girls were glaring at Ruby, and boys were sending hateful glares towards Jaune. With a sigh coming out of the blond librarian, he lifted his hand off Ruby's head and scratched the back of his own. Ruby looked towards the ground between her feet, finding herself within the same awkward position as him.

"…"

"…"

The two looked back to one another instantly, their mouths opening. "Jaune-" "Ruby-"

They stopped again, bewildered by their coincidental timing. The two bursted out laughing, clutching onto their stomachs as they didn't feel as awkward anymore, "S-sorry Ruby. I was wondering if we could-"

"Hey man!" A masculine voice called out to the two, both raising their head and looking to the source. They'd spot a teen with spikey brown hair that went down to the base of their neck, covered in robes and semi-armor as a scar ran long across the side of their neck, "How about you lay off? She's mine." The teen stated, walking up beside Ruby when attempting to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

Though, that didn't go so well when Ruby reflexively threw his arm off her shoulder and hopped over the counter to stand behind Jaune hastily. Jaune merely eyed the hunter with focused eyes, raising an eyebrow, "… Doesn't look like it."

The hunter scowled at him, "Well she is." He stated affirmingly, a burning glare returning to the unoffending blond, "Name's Jerick Vloy. You're that new librarian guy every girl's got eyes on."

Jaune felt like internally sighing to the point that even Ruby could easily read that expression of his, "Jaune. And… what about it? I'm… not really interested in anyone, to be frank with you."

For some reason, Ruby felt her heart ache a little, but remained by his side as the scene caused everyone within the library to look over to them as the center of attention.

"That person you got right there is a prodigy of our time- you're on no level to be even _near_ her." Jerick hissed at the blond, slamming his hands against the desk, "I can prove it to you. We're about to duel, you and I-"

"-and you want to duel some harmless, busy, _librarian_?" Jaune shot back, forcing Jerick to step back in realization of what was just stated, "By all means, _Hunter_ , you can duel whoever you want… but to say you want to duel someone who doesn't even want to _fight_ …" The blond's voice was an announcement rather than making simple talk with the offending hunter. So that everyone within the library could hear him.

Even Ruby was surprised at how well he was countering this.

"… I do wonder how you're taking this to your own self-conscious, should you have one." The more time had passed, the more menacing that Jaune had become in antagonizing this young hunter, "… Walk away, Vloy." His eyes narrowed upon the teen, the hunter widening his eyes as he met eye-contact with him, "… Leave." He had commanded.

Everyone watched as Jerick Vloy turned around without further work, his back straight and stiff as he walked away. Only when the doors audibly shut behind him upon leaving, did everyone mutter to one another from the sudden tension that pitched within the air. Now relieving himself of a sigh, the blond librarian grinned down to Ruby, patting her on the head again, "Looks like trouble arises for you even here, Rubes…"

She laughed, punching him lightly in the side, "Oh shut up."

Qrow stood behind a wooden pillar, smirking with arms crossed as he stood up straight and walked away afterwards. _'… I can trust you with Ruby, Jaune.'_

 **:: / ::**

In exclusion to all the muttering and chattering within the library at the recent event, amber eyes glowed through the faint darkness at one corner of the library. They trained upon the man who talked down a Hunter with logic, and yet his presence… _intimidated_ her. She recalled this presence at the library she had last been at that also had him working at it.

 _'I need to be wary of him… Gurrigen will need to handle him when the time comes.'_

Cinder Fall.

The Fall maiden who would soon render Beacon asunder- including Vale itself. She needed to handle all of the most worrisome threats and obstructions that were bound to be in the way… but first, planning. As she entered back into her room, her eyes trailed over Emerald, who sat atop her bed and shivered to no end. Her body was pale, bags were visible under her eyes, and her crimson irises small with her eyes wide.

Cinder frowned, turning to Mercury- who sat on a wooden chair- and shook his head to indicate that there were no signs of the poor Emerald from recovering any time soon. Emerald… she looked traumatized, and scared. Her breathing was raspy and quick, her mouth dry. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, and Cinder contemplated on having Mercury forcibly feed her. She wasn't sure what rendered Emerald into this state of trauma, and she doubted it had been the blond who worked at the library. There was no way he could've done anything that would put the dark-skinned huntress into such a state…

There were no signs of any injuries, no blood, no anything… and Emerald had rushed back into the dorm room that night, breaking through the door and collapsing before rolling up into a ball and covering herself with her arms like some child who's seen a terrifying nightmare…

The arising maiden turned around and made way out of the room, glaring down the hall.

 _'I_ _ **will**_ _find you… and I will have you killed for what you've done to my comrade.'_


	8. The Stranger Who Understood

**He burns from within the ire of kingdoms, holding the very legend that brought terror to the five kingdoms.**

This legend wielded a name, and so this is the name that legend wielded. For it was no laughing matter of which the name was spelt, nor said. Rather, how terrifying it was to even bear it. And so, Remnant was forced to banish the name to prevent its own collapse. A kingdom had already fallen to the name, and it had only left an even number of kingdoms to prevail.

He was burned at the stake for his treachery against humanity, Remnant, life itself. Even as he burned, he expressed nothing but the sad-filled dull azure irises that showed sympathy to them, despite being burned alive. So he burned, the legend having multitudes of swords and spears stabbed through his arms and legs to the top of a cross raised fifty feet into the air, completely doused in oil and composed of wood.

Like a fiery display, the blond-haired legend was able to look upon the entire kingdom, and felt nothing but sympathy. The world- Remnant- was watching. To watch the legend burn aflame and wait until he became nothing but ashes. His body gave no signs of charring, or dissolving. When their will gave in, they sent him away, basked in flames, for years in a desert-heating Sun. The burning cross was relocated, and it was relocated to the middle of a wilderness, where he would burn and become torn to pieces by the existence of Grimm.

Even they denied him.

When they thought the Grimm would near, they instead froze in place, knees and arms locked with the inability to use their motor skills any longer. The legend did nothing but bask in the fire of damnation. It wasn't his intention to force the Grimm back down from their former intentions. For whatever name this man wielded, it is bound to be a name that would become recorded in history, if this story were to ever be found.

 _And so when the moon rises,_

 _It is whole._

 **:: * ::**

"-many theories rise as to how the moon was shattered. Some say that a collision of powerful forces that were present on the moon resulted in its breaking. Others would claim that it's been from meteor storms slamming into the moon and causing it to chip apart. Many reasons and theories are presented, theorizing why the moon is broken." Doctor Oobleck states, writing at mach-speed across the chalk board as his rapid-writing of paragraphs became stanzas of essays at a blink of an eye, "As of now, no one is certain why the moon is destroyed and scientists are still researching into the cause as of today." The lightning fast doctor took a sip from his mug, promptly twirling around in a blur and forced the class to perk their heads up in attention.

In the back of the classroom, a particular brunette reaper sharpened her senses upon the discussed topic.

"Questions?"

A few hands shot up, another set were hesitant to figure out if what they had were actual questions.

Nevertheless, the instructor remained vigilant into having questions answered. He points to one of the raised hands.

"Profes-" A deathly glint shone off the corner of the instructor's glasses, "- _doctor,"_ The student corrected himself immediately, unwilling to suffer the wrath of the instructor, "What would happen if the moon was intact anyways? What difference would it make?"

"I- unfortunately- do not have a definite answer to that question. A very small portion of scientists believe that the reconstruction of the moon would mean the ' _Day of Reckoning'_ , as history texts put it, along with those who put their faith and study on books that would relate spiritually to the moon itself." The italicized title sprung up many curious heads to hear the details suddenly. A student was willing enough to ask another question.

"Doctor Oobleck, you mentioned a _'Day of Reckoning'_?"

"Ah," The doctor's green eyebrows shot up in surprise, "I had almost forgot that none of you would even know what that is, given how far back _that_ event occurred. It was going to be discussed in one of the future reports I was going to disclose to you all eventually, but it seems the crossing of this particular subject is going to allow me to briefly touch on it!" For the first time today, the doctor gave off a rather… _wild_ laugh, one that seemed to even best Professor Port's own.

"We are all hunters in arms, and what we fight are nothing more than the Grimm who ravage the lands and render civilizations into ruins. As humans and Faunus, we all have the ability to enter our peak performance, in which all of you would sometimesi refer to as _The Hunter's Wind_. Think of it as nothing more but absolute concentration and the highest level of combat skill and tactics against an opponent. Now let's apply it to Grimm…"

Some faces twisted from confusion to shock, as the doctor's reflective glasses angled, clearing any fog from within the glasses and revealing the focused brown eyes that belonged to Oobleck, "… Grimm can enter complete focus and utilize almost the entirety of their body's peak performances on special occasions." The remaining confused students reeled back, seats audibly grinding against the ground from the recoil of bodies. Ruby stayed attentive, leaning forward and her eyes slightly squinting, "But!"

The doctor's index finger shot up into the air as a mad grin plastered across his lips, "The _only_ time that the _Day of Reckoning_ had ever happened was at least thousands of years ago. And for _your_ assurance, it is only mentioned in one other legend that roams throughout Remnant."

Ruby stood up from her seat, "Can you please tell me what legend that is?" Her eyes were intensely focused upon the instructor, leaving Oobleck's eyes to wander the classroom at first before landing upon the huntress. Even with her expression, the doctor was left slightly taken aback prior to answering, "Ah, yes. That legend is…"

His voice trails off, leaving the entire class in anticipation for atleast a name of the supposed legend, "I… I seem to have forgotten. How strange. My apologies, Miss Rose. But I will get back to you on that whenever I get the opportunity to find the name again."

To many's dismay, all he heard was groaning and grumbling mutters as responses. Ruby felt someone elbow her arm, leaving the petite huntress to glance over to the individual.

"Hey Rubes, what's up with the question? That's a little sudden of you." Yang perked a brow while nibbling on the eraser end of her pencil gently. That was, until Blake snatched it out of her hand and whacked her upside the back of the head with a scowl and hissing with a 'that's _my_ pencil'. The blonde was left to chuckle nervously and wave it off to focus back on Ruby.

What Yang saw next on Ruby's face was concern, and that immediately triggered off warning bells within the older sister's mind, "Ruby?"

The red-themed huntress left reality momentarily to recall the one memory from way back…

 _The fully repaired moon that sat overhead a blond man whose back was turned to her._

"Ruby." Yang shook the girl's shoulders, snapping Ruby's focus back into reality and blinking at her sister, "Huh? Oh, sorry Yang."

The blonde brawler sighed, nodding, "Whatever it is, Ruby… I'm always here to help. Remember that."

Ruby laughed softly, nodding back, "I got it sis. Hurry up, you're going to be late for the next class."

"Pft. I got time-"

"Really? You only got a minute left and the entire class's already left."

Yang's head whipped around to find not a single soul left in the classroom- sans for Doctor Oobleck, her and Ruby, "Oh snap! Nope! No detention for me again!" In a wisp of a dustcloud, she poofed out the doors and stormed through a crowd of people in her wake. All Ruby heard on the other side of that door was girlish screaming and bowling pins being knocked over.

The red huntress turned to Oobleck, making her way down the steps and stared at the back of the teacher's head, "Doctor Oobleck?"

He responsively perks his head up, then proceeded to turn around and grin towards the pupil, "Ah, yes! Miss Rose, how may I help you?" He set down a chalk he was using on the board.

"I…" Ruby trailed off, her eyes shifting visibly as she tried to find the words to put it as, "… what you said before… about the legend."

Doctor Oobleck could only lift a brow and tilt his head slightly from the oncoming inquiry of the young huntress, "It is unfortunate that I cannot remember what it's called. Forgive me, Miss Rose."

Ruby immediately shook her head and smiled, "No no, it's completely fine, Doctor Oobleck. I was… well, you see, I kinda got caught up in thought about it and pondered about the entire _'Moon being whole'_ thing."

"Ah, yes. That." The teacher crosses his arms, his lips thinning out into a flat line. He repeatedly taps his chin with the end of the chalk he had just used, not minding the faint hint of chalk dusting over his chin. "The moon that- as a whole- causes the _Day of Reckoning._ Why is it that the moon specifically drags your attention?"

Ruby's smile slightly deflated as she turns, only willing to face out to the courtyard through the window, "… Somewhere in the world, I've seen the moon as a complete whole."

… as much to Ruby's inability to see the doctor, he went completely silent and still as he sat against the edge of his desk.

"It… was caused by _someone_ out there in the world, but I can't remember." She lied, but she preferred to lie about it for the sake of her friend.

The young huntress wanted to know about him- what made him so different from potentially everyone else in this world. But in the end, she could only get so little information about him and everything that revolved around the blond individual was shrouded in mystery and darkness. She remembers what he did that very night.

She was there to experience it.

Her body shook violently back then, the air felt colder to her, and the world turned into a grayscale theme.

It was terrifying, every moment of it… but always through that gray scaled world that Remnant undertook, was the color of yellow as a blond stood within the center, facing outwards towards a horizon that no one else could see.

But even then, he emanated with such a sad presence, despite his lack of aura. It was like a child's soul inside, crying and reaching out for some kind of helping hand that was willing to help them up.

Ruby could see that pain.

The red-themed huntress remembered the time she was willing to hug Jaune, catching him off-guard when she caught onto the look of pain in his eyes.

"Whenever it was completed, it felt like the world was coming to a standstill, and everything I once knew was being rejected and denied. That person who caused it… they're sad, and I could feel it. The moon didn't look as terrifying, but I knew that somewhere inside him, the moon was just a symbolic memory of what he's endured the past years, however old he is."

"… and so you believe that the full moon is just a representation of his soul?" The doctor asked with a soft voice, unnoticeably frowning from behind the young huntress.

"I want to say that. But it feels like he's lived a completely different life of what we're used to. This may be hard to believe… but I simply just wanted to tack on a theory of my own to everything you've heard, hoping that one day we can figure out what's really inside of the moon. One day, it might be important in our every day life…" Ruby's silver eyes traced the horizon of the forestry beyond, slightly squinting at the sun nearing it.

Then she looked to the time on the wall, reeling back in shock as her jaw dropped, "Oh no! I'm going late for class!" The petite huntress whipped her head back to the teacher, frowning, "Sorry! I gotta get going, Professor Goodwitch is going to kill me!" In the next second, she sped right past him in a blur…

… but he didn't flinch, only staying paused as he was now from the information he was just given. Inside… he was frightened. For once, in his career here, his hands trembeled violently.

 **:: & ::**

"Sorry, I have to work for today. There's a lot on my schedule." Jaune grinned at the group of girls infront of him as they all groaned in dismay. It wasn't too recent that girls- and some males- were fawning over him for some odd reason. During his time here, he's come to one conclusion.

Some huntresses and hunters are strange.

Sure, he may have one day considered becoming one of them, but right now, he's going to _really_ reconsider being one.

Hiding a sigh, the blond turned around to organize the shelf behind him of coffee beans and dairy supplies. It's been about three days since he's been here and accepted the job from Headmaster Ozpin. It wasn't too bad, per say. It surely came with its benefits. Though, he preferred working at Beacon's library on weekdays and then spent the rest of his time on the weekends at his own library.

I mean, come on. There's gotta be _some_ time of peace and quiet in between busy days.

As soon as the crowd around the front desk cleared up, Jaune was left with relief as he sat down and went through the return bin to file in some of the returned books.

"Hey, kid."

The blond blinked, readjusting his glasses and raising his head to see whose voice that was. When a wild-haired man with a cape came up into his view, his reaction was to deadpan at the familiar character, "Hello, Qrow."

The drunkard reared his head back with a grin and laughed, "Aw come on, what's with the look? You look like you love your job so far." He dragged over a seat from one of the tables and sat on it backwards, crossing his arms over the headrest and perking a cheeky brow towards the librarian, "Your welcome by the way."

Jaune scoffed at that, rolling his eyes and returning his attention to the books at hand, "Why are you here though?"

"Huh? I just came to see how you were doing. Besides, I need to keep a look out for little kid that you seem to hang out with most of the time anyhow." The librarian had already figured who he was talking about, but didn't bother verbally responding to it.

"Speaking of which, you two… _aren't dating_ , are you?" The hunter eyed Jaune suspiciously, watching as the blond stopped midway from his work and didn't see a change in his expression.

"No. We're not." He said flatly, moving the books around once more, "We're close friends. That's all."

"I was just curious. If you two are and you're just keeping it from me, I'd approve it anyways."

"I thought she's was your niece?" Jaune examined Qrow briefly.

"She is… but let's say I got this little father-figure act going on right now for both of my nieces, Yang and Ruby." The librarian could've sworn that Yang looked entirely different from both Qrow and Ruby entirely.

"That aside, Ruby's been getting better in class lately. She's pretty popular now with most of the school here as the _Prodigy of Beacon_ in so little amount of time as a first year."

Jaune visibly flinched, the apparition of a red-haired Spartan sitting on the desk infront of him flashing through his sight. Soon enough, she was gone, and there was something he could worry about less. But that reaction didn't go unnoticed by the hunter across from him.

"You alright, kid?" Qrow stood up, sliding the seat aside and inspected Jaune carefully, "If you need to go take a break, you should go right ahead. I'll go look around for one of the assistants to take your place."

The blond took a breather, sighing and nodding, "Thanks, Qrow… I owe you one."

The older man chuckled, waving his hand in the air as he started off to the other side of the library, "Don't worry about it. Just watch yourself out there. Wouldn't want to see the little kid get sad over her best friend dying after all."

Jaune couldn't help but laugh softly to that, putting down the set of books and started making his way out of the library, sliding his glasses off his face and pocketing it aside. Honestly, he hasn't taken much of a _tour_ around Beacon's academy grounds yet, but there were always opportunities to do so. Taking now as an instance would be one.

"You're taking this rather well," The beowolf stated, walking across the courtyard with the blond on all fours. There had been fragments of white plates sticking out of his legs and along the spine of his back, but the pattern made it seem all too akin to armor plates. An abundance of bladed weaponry was stabbed across the entirety of his back. Along the gray of his fur, purely white glowing veins that digitally structured itself to travel along his sides, "I am impressed." The purely white eyes traced to Jaune.

"If that's all it takes to impress you, I should be surprised you were an actual legend back then." The blond chuckled in response, shrugging and pocketing his hands into his hoodie, "You were always more of a people-person, Beowulf."

A snarling laugh came from the Grimm-like entity beside him, "I suppose, I suppose… That man though…" The tone of the beowolf altered discomfortingly, "What he says is insightful, a little _too insightful._ You'd best be careful, friend."

"I'll deal with it when I have to." The librarian eyed the statue sitting in the middle of the courtyard, frowning. Beowulf shared the same direction of gaze.

"Ah, yes… _that_."

"Yeah… don't mind it." Jaune muttered when glancing back forward, a look of sorrow etched across his face. Beowulf didn't seem convinced enough as it sighted the statue of a woman beside the sword-wielding hero.

After several minutes of silence that lingered, the two neared the large facility that housed battles and spars.

"You truly have found yourself in a predicament with that girl… haven't you..?"

"…"

He didn't respond immediately.

But it wasn't like he needed to with someone that already knew the answer to begin with.

"Yeah. I suppose I have."

 **:: ? ::**

A mace clattered against the ground along with a thud from a teen who was struck down to the ground. Revealing Cardin and his present scowl versus a grinning, victorious Ruby Rose. She tapped the blade less end of Crescent Rose against the ground, and the sirens went off.

"Victor: Ruby Rose. Your performance has been improving drastically as of late. Best keep it up, Miss Rose." The deputy, Glynda Goodwitch, eyed the child prior to team CRDL coming to pick up their leader and help him off-stage. Ruby nods to the combat instructor, making her way off stage and joining up with her team.

"Great job, Ruby." Blake lowered the foam finger that read '#1 RWBY', nodding idly to her team leader.

"Our team's skills are improving more and more by the days. At this rate, we'll be the best first-year team of Beacon." Weiss smirked, crossing her arms and nodding sagely.

Yang wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulder, giving her an one-armed hug and fist-pumping, "Yeeeep! Team RWBY marchin' through! We're comin' to take Beacon by storm!"

"You still need to improve on your academic scores." Weiss hissed at the blonde brawler. Yang merely rolled her eyes at the heiress, "I'll manage."

There didn't need to be a mention for Yang to easily notice their pokerfacing. From Weiss and Blake, specifically. Nevertheless, Ruby continued on with traversing down the corridor with her team. The only time the huntress was forced to stop was when she had come to sight a familiar blond standing all the way at the end of the hallway. He wore a black hoodie, faded jeans and some converses.

"Jaune?" Ruby gave out a faint gasp as she booked it to the smiling librarian all the way at the doorways. The rest of her team stayed back, slightly surprised at the sight of Ruby's close friend.

"Heya, Rubes." Jaune chuckles with his arms outwards, letting her tackle hug him, forcing him to stumble back from impact. Ruby beamed at him, hugging onto him rather tightly.

"Jaune! Hi! What're you doing here?! I thought you had to work at the library!" She felt all too happy when she received a light hug back from her friend.

"That? Oh, your uncle was willing to let me take a break by grabbing a librarian assistant and had them replace me while I was on break." A smug grin crossed his face when he squinted at Ruby, "Of course… I could always go back and-"

"No no! It's alright! It's good to see you here! You just missed my match with Cardin!"

"Oh did I? I bet you won." He chuckled, waving to the rest of Ruby's team as they arrived, in which they politely returned the greeting.

"Yep! I did!" Ruby began to jump slightly in his grasp, "Sucks you weren't there though…" She pouted.

Off to the side, Blake whispered over to Yang, "… Are you sure he isn't Ruby's father-figure? Looks like it."

Yang gave off a laugh, "Nah, it's just Ruby being too excited to see him. Remind me to tease those two when we get the time to hang out."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the B and Y of the team, causing the duo to glance aside and whistle non-suspiciously.

The heiress rolled her eyes and proceeded to return her gaze to the two hugging individuals, placing a hand on her hip, "Continuing… hello, Jaune." A hand is extended to him.

He smiles at Weiss, extending his hand and shaking her hand briefly, "Nice to meet you, Weiss. I hope Ruby isn't being too much of a hassle for you all."

The Schnee blinked in slight confusion. _'Wow, he really IS her father figure…'_

Coughing into her hand, she nods, "N-no, she's completely fine. She may be a… _bit_ … childish at times, but she's a sufficient leader."

"Ah, that's good to hear." Jaune felt Ruby tugging at his collar with both of her hands before shaking him back and forth, "I'm an adult..! Sheesh, let me do what I want!" The petite huntress pouted, causing Jaune to ruffle a hand through her hair.

"Anywho," Jaune broke through the topic mid-way, "how about I take all of you out to some smoothies? There's a smoothie vendor near the dining facility."

All of team RWBY- sans Ruby- looked up with a shine in their eyes, nodding instantly, "Already making a move on all the girls, huh? Lady-killer, aren't you?" Yang walked up to Jaune and grinned mischeviously, nudging his side with her elbow.

Jaune sighs, shrugging, "I figured that with all the girls I end up interacting with here, I'd be bound to do _**something**_." He made a 180 to lead the way with Ruby hugging onto his back like a koala, "I'm pretty sure you've been doing enough studying to deserve something."

Yang blinked, her cheeks slightly reddening in embarrassment as Weiss and Blake high-fived each other in the background. The team, including Jaune, began making their way through the crowds of uniformed hunters and huntresses of Beacon to get to the smoothie vendor. Well, after all the huntresses that seemed to constantly try and stop Jaune in order to have a proper conversation with him.

But none of that.

With the five stopping by, it only took a few minutes for them to settle down and have smoothies altogether. For some reason, they had tuna-flavored smoothies. (I casually threw that in there for Blake. It's an ongoing joke it seems.)

Leave it to Blake to take the weirdest orders completely.

Nevertheless, the group sat down at a table, cups of smoothies of various types in hands. It would've been entirely enjoyable if not for the fact that there were many other teams also in the same area, awing at the popular team and the rumored librarian.

"A little popular, aren't we?" Jaune joked as he looked over his shoulder discreetly.

"It would seem so." Blake sighed as she slurped on her tuna-flavored smoothie shortly after. Yang gave a grinning shrug, with Weiss also nodding and tried not to put too much focus on the gossiping crowd around their table.

Ruby beamed at the reactions her team gave off eversince her initial gain of fame from several weeks ago. To be frank with you, they seem to have adapted quicker than she did the first time around. She sat nearest to Jaune, glancing over to him as he did the same and simply nodded towards her.

Ruby was grateful for the time she was able to have with her friends.

She truly was.

"He's in the way again."

"Lucky bastard… always getting all the girls."

The petite huntress turned her head slightly, becoming off-focused from her friends to try and overhear the background conversation without the others noticing.

"Guy's a simple idiot who only knows how to read all his life."

"He can't save anyone. I don't even feel any kind of aura emanating from him at all."

Her eyes slightly squinted out of anger.

"Bet he's hooked up with the prodigy of the first years."

"Psh, bet he is. Doesn't even deserve her- hasn't done anything worth noting to begin with. I mean, look at us. Hunters, people who actually go out there to save people from Grimm. Risking our lives for the betterment of humanity. He thinks he can go out there and get the attention of all the hot huntresses out there? The nerve."

"Coward."

"Bookworm."

"Cheat."

The reaper had just about it, getting up to have a word with the background characters prior to feeling some light pressure on her forearm to prevent her from standing. Tracing the arm that touched her, Jaune was conversing with the rest of her team casually without noticing that his elbow was just fixed in place and prevented her from moving up any further without accidentally pressing into it.

That's when she realized that if she got up… she'd just worry everyone else, something she didn't want to happen between her and her friends.

"Hey Rubes, something wrong?"

Ruby blinked, not realizing the blond librarian staring right at her along with the others. She shook her head after a moment and gave a false smile, nodding, "Nah, just thinking about the test coming up this Friday. But other than that, I'm good. Where were we?"

She couldn't risk letting her friends worry about something so trivial to them…

 **:: / ::**

Ruby wasn't doing any better after that.

There were several cases where she'd stumble over her own foot with Jaune catching her in the end faster than Blake could ever react.

She'd end up hearing more gossip about Jaune and the names he'd be called by the passing journey.

Times where Jaune was targeted by other students of the academy, but backfired as Ruby would purposely step in the way of harm and usually take a spitball or paper plane to the head.

Sometimes, there'd be an instance where huntresses would attack her from a distance without her companions noticing, and end up hitting Ruby with a paper ball or some kind of other projectile. There were a minor few that actually did hurt though. Like the razor blade that flung by her cheek and left a cut, but her aura did well enough to quickly heal it and she would hurry to disregard the projectile.

Maybe she was lucky enough to avoid a part of the problems when she heard some students screaming about suddenly being set on fire or them tripping down the stairs while standing still somehow…

Overall, this was taxing on her mental and physical health.

What she had felt like dying on the inside, where her heart felt as if it were pumping blood at the bottom of her stomach. Literally, the huntress felt _fatigue_ radiating out from beneath her eyelids.

Whenever the group would ask what was wrong, she'd send a usual false bravado their way and say that she didn't get any sleep last night or was too focused on the test previously stated to be for Friday.

It didn't help that she felt nervous whenever Jaune sent a worrying glance her way- already feeling like she was failing her original mission more than it was probably going to be at the end of today.

Weiss picked up a call from her older sister, Winter, and told them that she had to go see her sister for some family business, departing away from the main group. Second went Blake, who had to go finish studying for Professor Port's class about a quiz tomorrow.

The third? You guessed it. Her sister, Yang.

One of the oncoming attacks was loud this time.

Jaune was about to open the door leading to the corridor connected to the dinner hall. What completely caught her off-guard was the rope that was slowly raising with a weight connected to the bottom, just several inches of the door being open. Immediately deciding that it was a trap, Ruby sprung forward with her semblance and pushed Jaune aside…

… just in time to take a hanging sandbag to come slamming into her chest and sending her flying back, losing the air in her lungs.

The suspects from the other side of the hall were booking it the moment they figured out who they had hit instead, one of them holding a camera with the red light shining out of it.

Yang inspected her little sister quickly, frowning, with her eyes flickering to a fiery red hue. Gritting her teeth, the brawler of RWBY turned to the runaways and roared from the top of her head as she sped right after them. Turning the corner where they had taken it and only heard unmanly screams from the end of the hall.

Coughing several times, Ruby slowly got up with a groan and shook her head from the impact's effect on her. Jaune was already there to help her after assuring Yang that he'd help Ruby, placing a hand on her back to aid the young huntress up.

"… You _know_ that isn't something I can ignore now."

Ruby frowned, looking down at the ground. Jaune had known? Did he know? She was pale, shaken and tired. But she didn't want him getting hurt because of her behalf. Ruby could only blame herself for what's going to happen to Jaune if he got caught up in it now out of all times…

"Please…" She felt her dry throat cry out, grasping Jaune's sleeve and tugging on it lightly. Her silver eyes attuned to his, "… don't get hurt for my behalf."

Jaune's mouth slightly opened to say something, stopping himself and considered it. With a reluctant nod, he helped her up into a stand. She went limping for the first few seconds when walking her to the infirmary to get her checked on. Sighing, Jaune knelt down infront of her without her notice, causing her knees to buckle against his back and fall on the blond.

And instantly, she was met with comfortable warmth. Her arms were dangling off his shoulders as he stood up, her legs being held up by his forearms as he piggy-backed her to the destination. The infirmary wasn't too far, if they taken several other hallways that lead to the entrance of it…

But in these somehow silent and desolate hallways, Ruby found herself laughing weakly. "… Thank you." She muttered.

Jaune perked a brow as he carried her, "… Thank you?" He inquired.

"For helping me… I… I wanted to help you… I didn't want anyone to worry." She stated hoarsely. It wasn't until the corner of her eyes started to tear up from the built up stress and fatigue, "But… look at me now. I'm a mess."

Jaune gave her an uneasy look until lightly sighing and nodding, paying attention on the path ahead of him. "Yeah. I should be the one thanking you… it seems like we were both trying to cover each other's backs."

Each other's? Was he..?

"You were… protecting me, too?" Ruby felt her eyes nearing to a close, given the blackness that now shrouded up most of her vision.

"… Yeah." He muttered, eyeing her from the corner of his eyes.

Ruby closed her eyes and eventually felt herself fading away into sleep, huddling close to his back as her face would bury itself into the back of his neck, seeking more of the warmth he provided to her, "I'm… so weak…"

It didn't take long for the blond to register that she was unconscious. All that mattered was to get her to the infirmary to let her actually rest.

That was…

… if the dozens of individuals infront of him would step out of the way to give him complete access to the entrance.

Most were armed with blunt-ended weaponry that went from desk legs, stool legs, yard sticks, and so-on.

 **:: - ::**

He saw the girl in white that cried, huddled into a ball in the center of the whole formed crowd. A hood was pulled over her head to cover most of the dark hair that she had. Jaune reminded himself that…

… it was simply the ghostly pain he had to exhibit as the only means of peace.

"You look upon these people… and you tell yourself that this is not war?" The near-completely bandaged man whose body was riddled with arcanic runes stood next to the blond, "I look upon these people… and I call them _weaklings_. Trash that is beyond saving."

Jaune let the world pause, and his glowing azure eyes would turn to the offending crimson ones of the bandaged individual, "… They are still people with lives of their own, Gilgamesh." Jaune set eyes upon the head of Ruby, who remained asleep on his back. Gilgamesh proceeded to walk towards the group of assailants, his cursed eyes focused upon each and every one of them. All remained as inanimate as statues would.

"They're bold, courageous I would even say… but stupid, and abandoned from greatness itself," The former king turned back to the blond librarian, "You, greatly contrasting from them, are strong, and wise. You've annihilated a kingdom's worth of armies. Single-handedly destroyed an empire. _Saved_ humanity from its own demise."

"It was done out of the better good of the people." Jaune scowled as his eyes narrowed in outright anger, "Don't you dare tell me what I-"

" _You're a monster._ "

Jaune's voice hitched at the interception Gilgamesh had made when simply levitating back up beside the blond, his crimson eyes never leaving the pained librarian, "To them. To her. To _yourself_."

Gilgamesh eyes the crying child who went alone into the crowd of frozen opposers. His hands were formally tucked behind his back as the runes on his bandages glow violet, "You are who you are, Jaune."

His body begins to turn to dust from the bottom and to the top of his head, "May you be burned by the stake,"

Time begins to resume, as gradual movement is returned to those who fell victim to his domain, "Pierced by the thousands of blades and lances with the same blood,"

He could hear the echoing sounds of the shouting created by the people ahead of him, "Or be the menace that reality had once tried to rid of…"

Gilgamesh was gone. And reality came back to its senses.

The crying child was gone with him.

Jaune continued forward in complete disregard to the hunters that glared and screamed at him. The moment one of them tried to run up to him and beat him down with a flimsy wooden leg of a stool, his eyes would tiredly focus upon the attacker, and force them to stay still as the weapon would clatter against the ground uselessly.

"She told me not to get hurt for her sake,"

The victim collapsed to the ground.

"-so I won't let you touch me or her to begin with."

It shut them up.

 _Good._

His eyes were glowing through the dim darkness the corridor provided. Even with the sunlight from outside, it only represented how little hope they could now have against the presence of him.

One by one, each hunter was dropping their weapons, and losing their ability to move or even blink as they remained in place. All went pale and stiff in the end.

Jaune would trek straight into the infirmary calmly with Ruby in tow…

… and the crow outside the hallway's window would caw from on top a tree branch, red eyes focused on those that were now kept in place.

 **:: + ::**

"… you believe that Ruby Rose has met with the Moon-Architect?"

"This is only by hypothesis, Headmaster." The coffee-driven instructor with green hair stated as he fixed the reflection of his glasses, dark brown eyes sharpened upon the gray-haired man across from him, "Ruby Rose has claimed she's seen the moon completed before by _someone_. And that _someone_ must be the Moon-Architect for that to occur."

Ozpin hummed to himself lightly, piecing together the information he's received over the amount of time given. In a matter of weeks, days, or even hours, a war can occur by a single shift in power. But if there was a different power that can completely annihilate that one and side with the best of humanity, then maybe… just maybe, they can change the way the world is now.

That was none other than the Moon-Architect.

A supposed legend that reasoned behind the destruction of the moon, and connected with the story of Crocea Mors. Although, it easily out-proofed that there was no such individual of a _Lost Soldier_. In either effect, that would mean Ozpin would have to choose which legend would be real and try to connect it to the story of Crocea Mors in order to locate it, wherever it may be…

This is difficult.

Ozpin sighed, sipping from a mug of coffee. Bartholomew Oobleck could do nothing more but speculate the design of the office as the gears moved and clicked, "The times are changing, but they're _changing too quick._ "

"Agreed," Ozpin once again looked up to his colleague, "But as it may… we may not have enough time."

Jaune sat by Ruby's bed, his hand gently resting over hers as he stared at her puzzling smile. His dull azure eyes slightly squinted at the expression she gave off.

"With the Vytal Festival nearing… there's no telling when our enemy will strike, and if they do, I fear that we simply will not find Crocea Mors the time we'll need it the most."

Ozpin clenched his fist, as Qrow leaned against the wall just around the corner of the infirmary to spy on Jaune and his niece briefly.

Somewhere in Vale, some scrolls had an indicator that easily represented the _Queen piece_ in a game of chess…

 **:: [] ::**

Her fingers elegantly trace the outlines of the stone statues of humans and Faunus littered across the brown-black courtyard, her amber eyes tracing the shaping of each one of them, "My my, you've been busy, Guriggen." Cinder turned to the bandana-wearing man who stood off to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

He had dark emerald hair that was pulled back into a long pony-tail, a scaled green tail protruding from his back, and dressed in a black long coat that matched his jeans and boots, "What's it to you, _Cinder_?" He hissed at her distastefully.

"I have a task for you…" She replied smugly, enjoying the reaction she was receiving from this snake-tailed individual, "You see, Vale is about to have a _party_ soon… and there's quite a few individuals I would like to refer you to. If you could rid of them… I'm sure _her majesty_ would be _most generous_ to see you personally and cure you of your… 'curse'."

The man went silent briefly as Mercury stood off to the side, watching… and this time, without his usual partner.

A few tense minutes passed, and the man smirks.

"When's the party due, if I may ask?"

A chuckle from Cinder, "Why," She holds up her scroll as she presses the 'send' button located beneath a Queen's chess piece icon, "Right now."


	9. The Stranger That I Wanted To Understand

**He use to hold a name that terrified the world; no matter the heroism.**

Have you ever told youself… that'd one day, you'd like to be a hero, and **save** people?

Or that… some day, if you could, you'd want to have powers to **protect** people?

Jaune had **no choice**.

But here he was, standing upon the grassy meadow and looking up to the mountains that were undoubtedly inhabited by Grimm long ago. Around him were luscious green trees and mid-foreleg tall grass. Infront of him were hundreds of wooden stakes dug into the ground, in constructions of crosses or small signs partnered by a small hump of stone rocks. Something told him that he'd try to one day make his final hours of peace here, when it came to.

The names of these graves were worn off from their wooden slabs, but Jaune still understood the intention behind their creations.

Within, he told himself that he wanted to be a part of this kind of society, and walk the same way that every other human did. He truly wished for it, and back then, he'd wished for it to the point his eyes would bleed tears. Every day, he was reminded of his weakness, his inability to save people, his extensive self-destruction that he'd constantly attempt day after day, night after night.

But even then, he _**wasn't allowed to die**_.

Jaune sighs lightly, only to be overtaken by the strong winds that brushed against him. He knew the false warmth of a hand gripping his left one, and wasn't too surprised by _her_ presence, "Jaune…"

Her voice was soft and heart-warming, but it'd only warm the heart of someone who actually had one. The blond didn't respond to her, but she knew that he was listening nevertheless, "… you just need to hold on for a little longer. That's all I'm asking for." It didn't take rocket science to know that Pyrhha was crying, even for an apparition that derived from his injured mentality, "You can do it. I know you can."

"How long… how much more _suffering_ awaits me?" His voice tensed into a hiss, trying hard not to glare at the mourn-meant grave in front of him. It frustrated him that he couldn't move on like everyone else did. Even those he'd watch grow and eventually pass on. His hands gripped into fists intensely, phasing right through the comforting hold Pyrrha wanted to provide to him.

Jaune didn't want to be angry, he didn't want to be frustrated, this wasn't him.

… but everyone had their breaking points.

To look at Jaune as if he were a fragile vase, his entire being… was _cracked_ … and it looked like that all it took now was a mere poke for it to come all apart, littering the ground with shards.

"You need to heal…"

"Don't tell me what to do, _Pyrrha_." Jaune's irises dart to the corner of his eyes to glare at the apparition, "Can't you understand..?! No?! Why can't you understand, out of all things, you're a _part_ of me, damn it!" The blond's tone heightened to anger, the sudden change of emotion forcing the environment to take a complete turn of ambience. The apparition of Pyrrha floated back, the tear-stained face of his former comrade locked with his own. It's the mere fact that Jaune wanted to cry, but his body prevented him from doing so.

There were no words given to him by Pyrrha any longer as she faded away after accepting the emotional collapse of the blond named Jaune.

He huffed, eyes twitching uncontrollably as he found himself glaring at the wooden post. His head was pounding, as his muscles were spasming within. His eyes widened when he finally managed to pace his breathing, realizing his outburst and turned around quickly to find that the apparition that maintained his sanity was now gone. Vanished into the nothingness.

Jaune did nothing but gawk at the air, and then brought himself back, clutching his chest tightly as his jacket's fabric clutched into his grasp. It hurt.

It always did, and when he thought he was use to it… he wasn't.

"… Help me." He breathed out softly, eyes trailing to the drying brown grass beneath his feet, despite all the other grass retaining a healthy green color, "… Please… help me."

 **:: # ::**

"That's what you came to conclude, Oz?" Qrow eyed the headmaster briefly, taking a quick swig of his flask. They were in the headmaster's office of Beacon, as a projected image of Ironwood's live scroll-call was emitted from a projector and onto the wall.

"Yes. We'll need to focus on our survival more rather than keep up priority over the search for Crocea Mors. It's vital that we try to keep them away from the Fall maiden as much as possible- and also try to keep the students here from harm. I will be requesting Ironwood's arrival with his fleet, along with requesting aid from different academies that have professional hunters of their own."

"A wise decision, Ozpin." Ironwood nods from the other side of the screen, "I will arrive as soon as possible when my men are all readied up. I will be arriving no later than tomorrow, 9PM. That, I assure you."

Ozpin nods to him, "Thank you, James." The feed would cut off, leaving a slate gray screen behind. The headmaster nods to Qrow shortly after, "I ask that you try to scout the city, inform me of any strange movement or information that you manage to come across. It'd be greatly appreciated."

The hunter returned the nod and walked towards the elevator, the doors swinging open with an audible ding before he could even press the button. But nevertheless, it proved to be a great timing for him, as he smug smirks at the specialist infront of him.

"Nice of you to drop by, Winter." He wiggled his eyebrows at the Schnee, who fixed him with a glare.

 _"Qrow."_ She hissed with utter distaste. Winter carried on past Qrow with a brief _'hmph'_. Qrow took the elevator shortly after her with a victorious grin across his face.

"Women." He muttered as the doors came to a close.

"You called for me, headmaster Ozpin?" Winter folded her hands together behind her back, eyeing the gray-haired male, "You said it was urgent."

"It is," Ozpin took a sip from his mug, setting it down shortly after, "I was going to request that you would have your platoon on standby and prepared for combat at any given moment. A storm is unexpectedly approaching soon."

A frown. That was a prompt returning expression from her, "I… I see then." It clearly wasn't something she was expecting so soon it seems. "I will fortify my troops as soon as possible. Call upon us when you need us."

Ozpin thanked her afterward by the time she left. A tiresome sigh left the aged hunter, standing up with his cane in hand. His eyes focus on the courtyard visible from his tower, watching the sun that was rising. The headmaster had wondered what would become of his academy, and how the council will decide everything that will occur in Vale will be publicly seen as. Their stories of lies and deceit.

It was stressful, put blankly. But would all the effort be worth it soon enough? Maybe. He honestly could never tell.

Somebody has arrived at the courtyard's flower field, it seems.

Ozpin's recognized that man. It was Jaune, the librarian with impressive historic knowledge of the past and all of its legends. Odd enough that the blond would come out at this time of hour to admire the flowers and also see the rising sun that came to be. In the plot of white flowers that majestically danced between the weaves of wind, Jaune stood in the exact center and focused morely on the sun.

Watching as the scene unfolded before his eyes, Ozpin could only stand silently…

… and watch the smooth conversion of the white-petalled flowers become blood red in a fluent wave.

 **:: +- ::**

 _'Don't fall in love with me.'_

Ruby's silver eyes shot open to see the ceiling of a foreign room. It only took several minutes for her mind to process the fact that she was in the infirmary, and judging by how much her body was aching right now, it may as well explain the reason why. With a bit of wincing, the huntress sat up from her bed and felt her bruises, noticing how there was some kind of cream covered by a white medical patch. Most likely ointment to aid her body physically when her aura would slowly sip away the evidence of a bruise. Atleast they let her keep her casual clothes on.

The constant ambushes that were made for Jaune that she had taken for him… that was probably why.

Although… her heart felt light, as it beat softly against her chest. Raising a hand to it, she ignored the soring ache in the ligament to rest it against her chest and exhale softly. For some reason, she had felt warmer on the inside, making her feel more comfortable than she's ever been, despite her body.

"Ah, you're awake."

She almost jumped out of her bed, looked for Crescent Rose and played baseball with someone's head from the sudden voice. Ruby calmed down in relief after realizing it was just one of the staff coming out from the infirmary curtains, as the nurse merely chuckled at her response and had a clipboard supported up by an arm, "Are you feeling any better, Miss Rose? You took quite a few blunt hits around your body- did you get it from a spar with someone? I'd highly discourage it if it means you being piggy-backed by the librarian here while being unconscious." A smile was placed upon the nurse's lips as she spoke, watching as a surprised red-themed reaper slowly morphed her expression from being startled to faint shock.

"Yes, he carried you here." The nurse added on after figuring out that Ruby was trying to assess the information she's been told, "Look like quite the charming knight in shining armor, I'd say. Almost romantic." Walking over to the lamp stand beside Ruby's bed, she shut off the light and opened the window blinds to let some of the morning light to flood into the room, causing Ruby to squint momentarily, "He told me that he'd stay with you for the night before he'd leave early in the morning to go deal with some personal business."

"O-oh…" The leader of RWBY couldn't really find any words to say, but when she did, it was a minute later, "Did you hear anything about my sister? Yang?"

"Her?" The nurse almost fumbled with the glass vase with flowers when hearing that name, "She uh… she's completely fine." Ruby noticed the nurse's eyes shifting from left to right non-suspiciously. The medical staff leaned towards Ruby and held a hand beside her mouth, acting discreet as to what she was going to say next, "… just… her _sparring buddies_ weren't so fortunate."

Right at the moment when Ruby was going to admit that she wasn't surprised, the nurse promptly slid the dividing curtains open to reveal several other _Yang'd_ students that were in beds. Each either being completely covered in bandages or just as nearly completely. Afterwards, she closed the curtains and then nods to Ruby, raising her clipboard and writing on a stack of papers clipped to it, "Continuing, you're allowed to leave whenever you'd like, Miss Rose. I'd suggest you get some actual rest in your room later when you can, I've already sent the faculty a message exempting you from classes for today."

"Thanks." Ruby slid off of the bed, trying to regain her bearings and ignore the pain that was still lingering within her body. It was easily noticed by the medical staff next to her, who aided her in standing up and proceeded to hand her a pharmaceutical bag with minor pain killers inside, if the huntress would ever need it, "How long do you think until all the pain's gone?"

"Eh, give or take another day or two." She grins to Ruby, shrugging, "So just rest, the weekend's coming up after all. Today's Friday, just think of it as another weekend extension for you."

Now _that_ … Ruby could suppose she could accept.

"-oh, and before you go, I should tell you that I left a gift for you inside of the bag."

"Gift?" Ruby looked into the contents of the bag, finding one capsule of the said pain killers… but then there was a small box next to it, colored in a red theme and ribbons wrapped around it, "What is this?"

"Chocolates you can give to your boyfriend, the blond one that brought you here."

The huntress entered a coughing fit afterward, collapsing to her knees and falling flat with the nurse quickly springing to action after the fallen huntress.

If there was one thing pain killers couldn't stop… it'd be this.

 **:: ( % ) ::**

It was honestly a surprise when Jaune was requested to give a history class to the students, but now came the downside.

What the heck was he supposed to do when he's never taught multiple people at once before? The job wasn't to stand there and look pretty- it never even looked like it to begin with!

All the hunters stared at him like the center of attention, Professor Port going on with 'blah blah blah' and gesturing to writings and illustrations drawn on the board behind him. The professor soon patted his back roughly- and some of the hunters would cringe at the loudness of those poundings Jaune's back took. If there were any reason why everyone was still able to stay awake in this room, it'd be because of him.

He didn't like it either.

"Now then, Jaune here is the librarian to Beacon's archives of texts and books, but I've been informed that this young an wields much knowledge of many legends out there!" Professor Port stood beside the blond librarian, who nervously fixed his glasses and coughed into his fist briefly.

"For starters…" Jaune looked behind him to see the illustrations and writings that were scribbled all over the board, then glanced to the professor, "Would you mind if I erased all of this?"

The professor nodded rather promptly, in which Jaune would take the moment to completely erase the board of markings and picked up the chalk. It must have been extremely precise and smooth, because he could literally hear almost everyone 'woahing' behind him as his hand glided across the board with chalk-writing easily printed onto said board.

Not a single scratching sound was made as he made accurate drawings of certain Grimm and wrote letters and numbers in smooth transitions that were legible. He drew the basics, which was the Beowolf, Boarbatusk, and so on…

But now came images that were completely foreign to the students- even Professor Port. What Jaune drew on the board was one being a representation of a deer-like Grimm with flaming antlers, another is a different type of Deathstalker, but had two horns from the head's carapace and four claws instead of two.

What was presented to them now was foreign, primitive types of Grimm, maybe.

"As much as Professor Port claims I know much about legends, I also know a few things about past Grimm that you may not come across to this date. Mainly because these types of Grimm are known as 'deviants' and are entirely rare to any hunters such as you all."

"And you've seen them before?" One of the students asked from the back, in which Jaune would turn slightly towards their direction and make a brief nod.

"That would be correct."

He heard many people awe in surprise as he went on with the lesson, "Some of these Grimm are mentioned in legends of way back then, where books even record them, but scientists and researchers would claim that they're simply fantasy and not real."

He put down the piece of chalk and let it rest on the slider, "What I'll be teaching you all for now is the stories and tales of the past that all of you may be curious about. This may be the story of the four seasons, man with two souls, or so on."

"What about the one with the moon?"

He blinked. Jaune's recognized that voice from somewhere. Trying to see whose voice that was, he was met face to face with a deer-like faunus… whose emerald eyes seemed to be glistening with… _eagerness_?

But it wasn't too hard to disregard it after a moment.

"There are many stories that deal with the moon."

"I want to hear all of them."

That response was quicker than he thought it'd be, leaving the blond to look around the classroom and see the people who were nodding and anxiously waiting for him to give the stories. With a well-hidden sigh, Professor Port nods to Jaune and let Jaune handle the class as he saw fit.

"Well… there's several, but I know a few that're important with Remnant's moon. The Moon-Architect, The World of Crocea Mors, and The Harmony of Grimm."

As he wrote those names down on the board, a voice he registered as Blake's sprung up, "Do those stories deal with anything called the _Day of Reckoning_?"

Almost everyone tensed up within that room.

Jaune simply shrugs, "No, not that I know of. I believe that one is located in a legend that no one knows the name of any longer. The Moon-Architect holds a supposed legend of man somehow creating the moon, constructing it by his own free will. The Story of Crocea Mors deals with a dragon having formed the moon. Then comes the Harmony of Grimm, which doesn't really have the _Day of Reckoning,_ but describes how the Grimm work together under the shattered moon."

It almost seems too strange to hear of a class that wants to hear all about the moon. But he'd try to pass time with these topics, "All I have time for is one story, and for today, I'll give you guys the legend about the Moon Architect."

All the hunters-in-training shifted in their seat to get closer, even the professor took a seat and sat at the end of the desk to listen in on the story-telling. Jaune straightened his voice briefly, taking off his glasses and setting it down on the wooden surface infront of him, "Architects. What do they do? They usually tend to create things from the base, which means they work everything from blueprints and scratch and then to their actual creation, usually with combined efforts of those who become accomplices to them."

Jaune crosses his arms as he leans back against the chalk board behind him, facing the entirety of the class, "In the past, they have Architects that actually do have a meaning and important stance in Remnant. Architects are supposedly ancient individuals who use to create things completely from scratch with powers unimaginable to human eye and creativity. If you want to put it in a certain way, Architects are people who can literally make things from nothing, just like story of two brothers that supposedly created both man and Grimm."

A single index finger is raised, and it's raised to point straight at the ceiling, "The moon is an instance of an Architect's doing. An architect so powerful they bent logic to follow the moon's will. However, with so much will of its own, the moon shattered thousands of years later and was forced to lose its tyranny over Remnant's nature. When we use to have constant high-waves, they're now waves that moderate between low and medium without the placement of a storm being nearby. The world once worshipped Architects as gods living amongst the human society."

Getting the memo that the whole class was now enraptured into the story, Jaune turned back to draw the moon on the board, and then people as stick figures on the bottom who held arms up to said moon drawing, "The Moon Architect was named the 'Moon God' in the past, for the display of power that was left in the night sky. The god himself had once told the people that when their time would near, Remnant would be one day revived by the heart of the Moon.

He was once a normal human, like any of us. Someone who wanted power so much that he tricked a sense of reality and converted it into his own power, allowing him to become an Architect. Story goes as far as him was that he wanted to be strong to protect the weak, but became too consumed into his own power that he forgot his own ambition. When he came to realize it in the end, he committed suicide for becoming a failure to himself after all he's attained."

"Does that mean there's more Architects out there?"

Jaune laughed softly, "Presently? No. They simply relate to things that now exist in the present. Records provided that those thousands of years ago when Architects use to exist, that there were only three that could exist at a time. A Sun Architect, the Nature Architect, and the Sea Architect."

Everyone went silent as Jaune ended the note there, before Weiss was the first ones to realize something had gone amiss, "Wait… then what about the Moon Architect?"

"The Moon Architect was the one who broke the rules… and played into reality's game by tricking it and becoming the fourth." The blond turned around, sea-blue eyes locked with hers, "They're considered the cursed ones of the Architects, a demon god that would one day destroy humanity. People would follow them, but only out of fear and desire of power. They're traitors to the past's human society, and thus any candidate to becoming a Moon Architect would be executed, or even wiped from existence of any record they had. Many people were slaughtered in the tragic manhunt event. The moon, in the past, was depicted as a symbol of all darkness and evil."

Several people gulped and gasped at the sound of that, eyes drawing to the floor afterward.

"Nevertheless, Remnant's moon is supposedly created by a man who was the Moon Architect. A Moon Architect is someone who now keeps the moon in place as it is, and ensures that it will stay there for the passing of time." The blond librarian let his hands rest on the desk, staring out to the crowd, "In a way… you could try comparing it to the story of the four seasons. Four individuals with different high-tier types of powers, or semblances, as you could put it as."

The bell had rung, and Jaune clapped his hands together, startling multiple people at once, "That'll be all for today it seems. All of you carry on with your classes." When the classroom emptied, he turned to Professor Port.

"You've done extraordinarily well, lad! I must compliment you on your performance. The story of the Architects was a rather large one- but it holds some importance to Remnant as we know today." Professor Port gave a light pat on Jaune's shoulder before examining the drawings and writings.

Professor Port's voice took a turn for the keenest, as his tone became tensed, "I can only assume you know the connection of Crocea Mors to The Moon Architect, can't I?"

It went unsaid that the two didn't meet gazes, but this was because they met in terms of tension that arose in the air between them.

"You can." Jaune states, staring down at his own reflection from the wooden desk's reflective surface, "I know where you're going with this too."

"The headmaster informed me that Qrow's already told you about our search for Crocea Mors. But as it is, we may not have the time to search for it any longer with a new threat arising to threaten many lives here in Vale."

Jaune winced at the second's-worth image of a flaming battlefield filled with corpses and endless weapons, torn banners that littered the dirted hills.

"I'm aware. Ozpin's instructed me to take refuge in a vault below the academy, and bring as many people as possible with me to secure their safety."

"That's good." The professor patted the librarian on the back as he proceeded out of the classroom, "I will do my best on my own to protect and send people your way, lad. Be prepared for anything." With such, the professor left the classroom with an audible shut of the door behind him.

…

 _'Can you endure any longer, Jaune..?'_ The voice asks, its tone in sincere concern to the blond that faced the challenge of being powerless.

"…" If there was an ability to cry for someone who had sinned as much as he had,

He'd have cried to his missing heart's content.

Pyrrha sat in a seat several feet ahead of him, worry etched across her face. The apparition faded away shortly after.

And his world became black.

"… no. Not any longer."

 **:: ! ::**

In some part of Vale, amongst the shadows was none other than Cinder, who roamed the streets with the infamous Gurrigen. Mercury was on the other side of her, watching cautiously and minding the shady individuals that they'd come across. By the time they arrived at the doorway to the bar, she'd enter with her companions and slip into the lively bar. People danced to hypnotic music that blared through the speakers, and Cinder merely trekked through the crowd to take a seat at a reserved table.

Roman Torchwick sat on the other side of the seat, with two girls in red and white at both sides of him. The Machalite twins. The crime boss nods, whisking away both the sisters and settling more into the crimson cushions that composed of his seat, "I've spoken with the White Fang… I've got their support on this _little_ job from you."

"Good." Cinder grins, an index finger twirling around a lock of hair, "Ah, before I forget, introductions are due. Gurrigen? This is Roman Torchwick."

Roman blinked at the name that was spoken. It felt familiar. Until it was the moment he actually did examine the green-haired man beside Cinder more carefully. It was almost an instant second later that Roman flinched and nearly shut his eyes for good, "You're… _the_ infamous Gurrigen, are you?"

The stylish man smiled widely, almost laughing uncontrollably, "This is _fantastic_! Everything will be alright now! This plan is almost too perfect, Cinder… you've somehow recruited the man who froze hunters and huntresses constantly when they'd hunt him. He's practically an anti-hunter!"

A chuckle left the infamous character, who crossed his arms and nodded, despite wearing a blindfold that covered his eyes, "You know me so well, Torchwick."

"Roman. Please, call me Roman." The orange-haired dealer leaned forward with great interest.

"Alright then. A pleasure to meet you, Roman." His tail slithered across the ground, making a wavy motion as the end would swiftly snatch a pass-byer's wallet stealthily prior to raising it up into the air, "… Now… how about a drink for all of us? Drink as many as you want. It's on me."

 **:: +-+ ::**

Ruby gave off a sigh, ending her painful journey of the school day sitting on a bench at the flower fields of Beacon. It looked nice, considering the amount of roses that were plotted all over the place, and it seemed to be just her favorite color as well. Though… she remembered that all the flowers were white last time, not red. Maybe they did a complete change over when no one was paying attention?

Something cold pressed against her bare nape.

"Aah!" She tumbled over, hands covering over her neck and stared, wide-eye at the smiling blond who looked down at her, a can of soda in hand.

"You should be in your room, you know. Getting some sleep and healing up." Jaune let go of the can as Ruby snatched it out of his hand, then walked around the bench to sit down right beside her, "I think you sister did enough justice with beating those other kids down mercilessly, so I did them the peace of informing the nurse all of them just had a massive sparring contest. It was enough to convince her."

The prodigy took a sip from the can, somewhat glaring at Jaune for his earlier action. After muttering 'jerk', she put down the drink and stared at Jaune, "I don't want to do nothing all day. I'd rather be out, exploring and walking around. I got enough sleep last night." If silence was a feeling, then this would be the strongest silence she's ever felt.

… I'll come up with a better metaphor some other day.

"… Jaune?" She glanced to the side to see the blond staring right back at her with a neutral gaze, his azure eyes locked with her silver orbs. Jaune sighs, roughly placing his hand on her head and running it through her hair. Ruby pouted, the faded highlight of red overcoming her cheeks. The prodigy crossed her arms and glared at him, "W-what are you doing..?! I'm not a kid..!"

"I know you're not." His hand slid down from her head to briefly pinch the bridge of her nose, "But I can't help but worry about you some times. You're still hurt."

She went speechless, but then shook her head and coughed abruptly, "I-I know I am- hwah!"

Ruby rose into the air and went wide-eyed at the ground spaced below her, then to the well-known librarian, who had picked her up and sheepishly grinned at her, "You wanted to go exploring, didn't you? I wouldn't advise much on walking, and you didn't exactly bring a wheelchair… It's the school day, most students and staff are inside doing class anyhow."

"I-I-!" She felt her heart pounding against her rib cage, blushing profusely before flailing her arms, "Jaune!"

He only laughed childlishly at her actions, not seeming to mind the extraneous amount of heat that seemed to emanate from around her, "What? If you don't want me to carry you like this, then…" Jaune proceeded to set her down, in which she internally thanked for before suddenly seeing him step right in front of her and then slide back, causing her to cry out in surprise when finding herself hoisted up into the air.

Just right when she was going to fall off of Jaune's back, her arms immediately wrapped around his neck, holding onto him and blinking several times to realize the predicament that she somehow got into. With Jaune carrying her on his back like the night before. Her breathing came out as a series of huffs that eventually led to her planting her face against the back of his neck and took in the softness of his hoodie. She mumbled a few things against his back, and Jaune laughed it off casually.

"You're a jerk."

He started walking around the plots of flowers in the courtyard, shrugging lightly, "I know."

Her hug around his shoulders tightened a little, but he didn't mind it. Ruby lifts her head a little so her left eye just peers over his left shoulder, "You're always treating me like a kid."

Jaune smirks, looking over his shoulder to meet her gaze, "I know."

Ruby places her face against his back again, nuzzling her forehead against it, "I really hate you."

"…" His tone slightly changed, and despite how little it was, she noticed it, "I know."

"Jaune?"

Jaune kept looking on forward, eyeing the roses that filled the fields, "Yes, Ruby?"

"…"

She wanted to say something, and for how simple it was back then, it only proved impossible to say in the end.

"Ruby?"

The huntress hugged him closer this time, raising herself so that her chin would rest on one of his shoulders as she'd press her cheek lightly against his. He kept on walking, though his eyes travelled to the corners of his peripheral to see her, somewhat puzzled at her sudden contact.

"You're always there for me."

 _'I know.'_ She wanted him to say that. Mainly because it's true. These passing months… it was all too easy to say for someone like him, despite how much of an enigma he was to her.

"I find that hard to believe."

"You saved me so many times already. When I tried to help you yesterday… you only did the same for me, but managed to outdo me right when my body gave out."

"That's what friends are for, isn't it?" The blond librarian stopped within the center of all the flowers, eyeing every one of them with Ruby.

"You're playing the 'friends' card on me," Ruby said hushly nearest to his ear, and she smiles, "I know it isn't just for that."

"It is." Jaune returned that sense of hushness, frowning.

"You're a terrible liar." Ruby closes her eyes, and makes a wish inside. Her heart was burning inside, but it was soft, and didn't threaten to implode on her, "I told you that I was here for you too." But now, she felt her heart wilt sadly within.

"…" Jaune's eyes trailed down to the flowers that brushed lightly against a blowing wind, "I don't really have a definite answer yet… but when I do, I'll tell you when I can."

"Would that be a pinky promise?" She holds out her hand and extends only her pinky towards the blond librarian, who chuckles at the sight and nods, raising his own pinky to connect with hers as they both lightly tugged once joined.

"… Pinky promise."

 **:: *%* ::**

She had pondered about that mysterious message sent to her from earlier. When she realized who it was, she became easily disgusted and almost attempted to walk away from him in an instant. That was, until she was stopped by the rough contact that grasped around her wrist to prevent her from making a not-so-hasty escape.

The specialist turned around to scowl at him promptly, "What do you want, Qrow?" She hissed, glaring daggers at the man in a tattered red cape and raven'ish hair. Qrow, on the other hand, smirked at her expense and let her go once he got her attention. Leaning back and folding his hands behind his head as he perks a brow to her.

"Just wanna talk, Winter." He added a playful tone to it, but it was clear that she wasn't having any of it. Instead, she crossed her arms and continued her roughened glare to fix upon him, as he continued, "There's some… _'trouble'_ , and all I'm doing is askin' for help. What's wrong with ole me asking a small bit of a favor?"

"That 'small favor' the last time for me was helping _you_ get away from the buffoons that were after you," Winter squints her eyes menacingly when he tried to make a remark, "-after you _stole_ their clothing."

Qrow blinked innocently and turned his head away, "It was _just_ their clothing- besides, I was drunk-"

"You're _always_ drunk."

"-and having a bit of fun!"

"Qrow, you _literally_ stole their clothing. You literally stripped it from them right where they were, leaving them in nothing but under garments. Oh, and do I need to add that all of them were women?"

That, he didn't have much of an answer to. But atleast he's going to try and change the subject, "-hear me out though, _your highness._ " Given if it were any other person, she would've taken it as a compliment. But coming from him… well, things could go somewhat bad there. She took it as a sarcastic remark about her, so Winter immediately leaned in towards him and poked an index finger against his Adam's apple. _Hard_.

The scythe-wielding hunter's grin twitched as a bead of sweat came down from his temple, "O-okay, alright." He took a deep breath, "I need you and your guys to look out for someone specific that I think our enemies may end up recruiting… someone named Guriggen- wears a blindfold around his eyes."

Winter's hardened gaze softened as her finger released some pressure from his throat, backing away slightly, already having known who it was that owned that infamous name, "… Go on."

"… phew." He rubbed his fingers against his throat and soothened it out a bit, "What I'm saying is that we're expecting trouble… and what I'm going to ask you now is on a serious note, Winter. Not only for many other people to be safe from that one guy, but you included." She blinked, pursing her lips and tried to look away from gazing directly into his crimson irises. He could've sworn he saw some kind of reddish tint to her cheeks, but he'd push it aside for now.

"You and your guys, we'll need 'em stationed around Beacon instead of Vale. I know that your general's makin' his way here. "

Winter shook her head and took a moment to stare back at him respectively. This was surprisingly the first time she'd ever taken him seriously on something so urgent as this, "… I see then." Her eyes looked up to see him turn his back on her and walk away, "Wait… what about you then, Qrow?"

He stopped abruptly, and gave a soft laugh. Turning his head halfly to her, he sent off a mischievous grin,

"… I'm going to see how many girls with skirts there are around this cit-"

Winter proceeded to chuck the nearest car at him.


	10. The Stranger That I Fell In Love With

**He pondered of his sin, and it was this sin that kept him alive with the utmost regret.**

He was a human- just like anyone else was. Someone who use to have desires, someone who use to have an ambition. But to be put in the form of a husk was a simple pawn that fate had in store for him, even when that had abandoned him shortly afterwards. Alone, within the middle of the dark, would be his form, cradled into a ball form and resembling an age of when he was a child. Crying, weeping, and suffering.

It was all because of this sin that he had to suffer all this.

The sin that tortured him to no end, no matter how many times he's forgotten about this sin. It would always come back, and not in the form of once a year, once a month, or once a week.

 _But every living day._

Jaune glared at his hands. Glaring with no apparent reason that anyone who didn't know him any better would figure.

Instantly, he was given the flashback that was a minor part of his sin. He wore the black cloak around his body, donning the black hood that it provided to him. Beneath this cloak, he wore nothing more than just a simple black jacket and denim jeans that followed with converses, nothing too different to what he donned in the present. The air chilled, pillars of ash rising, and the area about filled with houses and walls broken from their foundations. Before him hid two children that gazed directly at him.

One with black hair and a pink highlight, the other is a ginger with bright aqua eyes with her pink-themed clothing. The blond librarian remembered them being there that day to watch it happen, and have it scarred within their memories for a lifetime.

The two were huddled together beneath the shelter of an elevated house, destroyed and turned to rubble above them. Afraid just like any other person would be in situations like these. Where the village was ransacked by monsters that children could only wish that they were closet monsters. Grimm, they were called. The monster behind him at the time was just another variant of a 'Grimm'.

When he stood infront of that house, Jaune remembered that fear when he once wielded it. The children even looked at him as if he were the same kind of monster, despite looking just the same. They were afraid of death, life, and all things that threatened to even _touch_ them. This hell was easy to recall and easy to relate to.

He's been to that hell.

They were in this hell.

The Nuckelavee roared at the back of his head, most likely screaming and threatening to tear his head from his shoulders at any given moment. Preying its eyes upon him. Jaune gave no shift in his features, as all that washed over him was the sadness that he was left to accept when looking up the frightened pair before him. They centered themselves as much as they could have from beneath the castle, and not even a second later, the black haired child began graying out in color, and shortly the child with orange hair beside him.

They prayed, asked, wished, pleaded.

Jaune wasn't a god- he never would want to be one. He's forgotten this feeling for so long that it felt like a razor blade slowly sinking its way beneath the flesh of his chest and towards his skin. A brand new experience all over again, after enduring it for so many times already in the past. These azure eyes that he wielded showed more pain and sorrow, pity and sympathy. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he laughed and poked in amusement at what fate left behind for them just as it did to him.

When the monster behind him charged forward, he turned his head to show the right side of his face towards the menacing Grimm. It came in faster than any arrow could when fired by the hands of a human. In which the beast leapt forward at the last moment towards the blond and the house shielding the children beneath it, the legend rose his hands and took ahold of its front feet, locking it in place while it forced its hind legs down to the ground.

Not a single centimeter was gifted to it when aiming to take down the blond who opposed it. In his eyes he wielded the very dormant fury that would have burned as bright as the sun. What life showered upon them was the cold air in the dark skies, when the pillars of fire ascended into the air and left the earth scorched. What life left behind for Jaune… was much colder.

Trained upon the eyes of the Nuckelavee, it tilted its head questionably prior to backing away several trotting steps and stared down upon the human in question. With one beckon of his head moving towards the side, it prolonged the stare for the matter of a second and turned passively, continuing on without a second thought.

Jaune turned towards the space beneath the house, gazing down upon the curved black knife that rested on the ground beside his foot. Kneeling, his hand rested upon the hilt, as the children promptly shuddered and scooted even farther away from here.

Was he the scarier monster within this path?

The magenta eyes of the boy spared sight between the knife and the blond, hugging the girl beside him tightly. Jaune held his hand out to the boy, offering the hilt of the weapon towards him. It took a few minutes, but the child being offered the weapon slowly let go of the girl and crawled forward, taking the knife from his hand gingerly and eyed him everso cautiously. His mouth felt as if it were dry, but yet his body managed to exert the words he wanted to say that he was prohibited from saying in the past.

"I came here to save you."

Jaune could see the change in his eyes, from how it went from fear, to a reflective light that soon watered within his irises. His hands were shaking as he let the knife clang against the ground uselessly, followed by the ginger that accompanied him. In which the two ran to him, the duo pressed into his sides when he offered his arms to them.

They wept out loud, like any other suffering child would have done.

It was these words that caused Jaune to remember the sin… and had it burn within his memories.

 **:: ~!~ ::**

Those silver eyes opened to see the rest of Remnant, sitting upon the edge of the cliff where she once recalled being launched from in the beginning of her school year. The breeze was gentle this time around, and it felt nice. Chilling, but nice. Just several hours earlier her classes ended and her team disbanded from grouping so they could head off to handle their own thing. Something poked at her mind though, occupying the time that she sat there in a joyful memory.

To her pinky, she eyed the red ribbon that both her and Jaune shared after the one night in the field. It was so childish to giggle at the sight of it and how she treasured it now. Though to her misfortune, it was always the calling of someone inconveniently always being near her.

"Ruby-"

"Eep!" The brunette threw her arms up into the air as she leaned dangerously forward, nearly falling off the edge.

"-ho there, kid." A hand grabbed the back of her hoodie and yanked her backwards, causing her to fall flat on her back and stare up at the caller. Her face beamed at the sight of the fellow scythe-user.

"Uncle Qrow! You're still here!" She could see as her uncle's crimson eyes rolled.

"Yeah, I am." He's probably saying _'Unfortunately'_ right now as we speak. (Oh Qrow, you.) "Hey kid, listen, I want you to be honest to me about something." For once, to Ruby's ears, he sounded serious as the uncle sat beside his niece. Perhaps taking marvel of the same view that Ruby once did just a few minutes ago.

"Hm?" Ruby sat upright, glancing at her uncle as she does so, "What's up, Uncle Qrow?" Her legs dangled back and forth on the edge playfully, "This is the first time I've ever heard you so serious."

He chuckled at that comment. Whipping up a flask from his side pouch, the raven-haired man brought it up to his lips before stopping an inch, blinking skeptically and eyed Ruby briefly prior to setting it away after some reconsideration, "I wanna know something."

The prodigy of a huntress blinked, her head tilted slightly in curiosity, her eyes somewhat focused on the sideways cross that was used as a necklace, "Know something?"

Qrow's eyes trailed down from his niece's eyes to the ribbon that was tied around her pinky, eyeing it keenly prior to returning eye contact to Ruby, "It's about you and Jaune. And no, don't worry, it's not about the ribbon on your pinky- I already know what to think of when I saw that." He immediately felt a light jab against his shoulder, feigning injury, "Ow."

Ruby's face went flush, fingering her ribbon gently, "I like it."

"Definitely looks _and_ sounds like now." He dodged that next jab. Good to know his dexterity score is still up somewhere. "-anyways, I was wondering what you think of him now. He's taught your class at least once, last I've heard. You seem more happier than you ever have before."

"You _just_ got to Vale and saw me after like… how many years?"

Qrow coughed into his fist idly, "Back to the main point, I want to know if you feel safe around him."

Her head slightly rose, losing the eye contact with her uncle, "… Safe?" She muttered almost too softly for him to hear.

"Yep." A nod. "If you could trust and rely on him for most things, like if you have a problem or anything of the sort." His eyes trailed to the horizon, his hands over his laps while kicking at the dirt wall behind his heels.

"I do."

His head rears back. Quite honestly, he was expecting there to be some silence in between the question and the answer. Though, if it came this promptly, then she certainly must be determined about that answer. Now onto his next question.

 _"Are you in love with Jaune, Ruby?"_

…

…

…

The two gazed at the horizon together, taking in the sound of the chilling breeze that settled by them. It felt natural, yet it remained uncomfortable for one of the two. Sitting still as grass brushes alongst the tips of their fingers.

Ruby's head slightly lowers, "Uncle… why are you asking this?" As she inquired with a soft voice.

Qrow was none of the better, as his voice remained as low as hers, but with clear concern heard within the tone, "Because I want to know, and that I don't want him hurting you if it's so."

They were unmoving, positions neither changed, "If I told you that I don't know yet, uncle?"

"Then I'm going to wait here until it's a yes or a no, Ruby."

"You're mean, uncle."

"…" A light chuckle, "I get that a lot."

More silence.

"Uncle, I…" Her voice sounded as if it were trembling, as Qrow looked over gradually towards his shuddering niece. His eyes slightly widened.

 _She was visibly shaking and clutching her chest at this point._

Her heart hurt so much- and this feeling was something that she couldn't understand. It's never happened before. What was invading her body?

"… I don't know why… but it hurts so much."

 _Ruby remembers the first time she met Jaune just outside his library, stopping the King Taijitu._

"It hurts more than the combat training Ms. Goodwitch lets us through in the sparring ring."

 _Jaune slid a plate of cookies to her every time she visited the library, as he always did have a sheepish smile to him whenever she came by._

"It hurts more than the Grimm have ever hit me with before."

 _They made a pinky promise in the field of flowers, the light red ribbon wrapped around their pinkies._

Ruby almost felt numb. Her mind was hazy. She could only think about the time she's spent with Jaune- all the months that they've spent together since meeting.

All this pain came from something else, and from where it could originate was only one place that she could think of- which had been her heart.

Arms wrapped warmly around her, as she voluntarily leaned closer to her uncle as he hugs her comfortingly. Ruby felt her tears tap lightly against the back of her hands, in which her palms were so pressed against her lap, "… What… do I do?" Ruby pleaded for any answer at this point.

The raven-haired uncle looked to his little niece, and didn't budge a smile, nor a frown. It remained neutral, as his hand lightly grasped around the cross he wore as a necklace, "… Talk to him, Ruby." He replied gently, running a hand through the huntress's hair soothingly, "Tell him about your feelings, and tell him about the pain you're enduring. All of it."

Qrow Branwen never took himself as a priest to help people of their confessions- but he supposes this almost feels like one. Internally, he'd be proud, but… his nieces came first before anything.

He felt Ruby nod against his shoulder, and he let her have her time. As much time as she needed.

As much as he's always been gone from his family most of the time,

Qrow Branwen wasn't an individual who would forget his family.

 **:: ~#~ ::**

"… I saw it, Qrow." The specialist states quietly while the two sat at a table outside from an ice cream parlor. Winter indulged herself into the red velvet ice cream rolls that they put in bowls- while Qrow entertained himself with a typical coconut popsicle, "You're really not what you let yourself off to be."

He laughed at that statement, watching as some unfortunate kid had his ice cream cone suddenly snap in half, "What? What're you talking about? I'm just some old perverted geezer." By the time he looked back forward to see Winter's eyes, he gulped, stopping briefly to see the cold-hearted look in her eyes, "W-what?"

She never let her eyes off him, tipping her tiny spoon in the air, dripping precious red velvet cream at the end of it to let it plat right back into the bowl, "You know what I'm talking about, Qrow. I'm almost jealous." He couldn't detect any kind of sarcasm from her tone. That's what made this little interaction even harder.

He attempted to wipe the redness on his cheeks away before noticing the mistake of human emotions to having a red highlight over one's face. _Ahem_. Qrow went to bite into his popsicle and noticed how fast his was melting compared to Winter's bowl of ice cream.

"Onto more _pressing_ matters," The agent went about to change the topic, "Your old man is supposed to be here by nine this afternoon, isn't he?"

Winter nods, "Correct. After that, we'll have a more reinforced security before the coliseum arrives for the Vytal Festival. If things are undergoing as I've heard they are supposed to be, then I can deem the headmaster's request as a respectable one. He clearly cares for those of Vale and the students of Beacon." The Atlesian specialist let her hands rest on her lap after finishing her bowl.

Qrow glanced over, noticing the all-too-familiar curious gaze she had always given him, "… Winter, what's with that face this time?"

Damn, she looked amused even when pretending to rear her head back in question, "I wonder what you speak of." She replied in the same tone he gave her when he asked about the past topic.

"I- tch."

"I'm only kidding, Qrow." Her and her own version of a troll face never did settle comfortably with him, "I just think it's adorable at how you're willing to take care for your niece when they're in time of need." All she received was the satisfying grumbling of a familiar crow on the other side of the table, as she let one leg lap over one knee, "… Do tell, but what do you think she's up to now?"

His crimson eyes look over to the direction of Beacon, shrugging idly, "Probably out to find Jaune when she can… because from what I can tell, she really does love him, but didn't realize it before I came in to talk to her about her feelings with him."

His eyes somewhat narrow, "I suppose I could say that I'm a victim of making that mistake of being too late."

Winter blinked at the man she accompanied, noting how… 'dark' he looked compared to how she's seen him before. Her eyes trailed down from his face to the sideways cross on his neck.

 **:: ~$~ ::**

Honestly, no really, honestly, she never thought that this day would come so quick, so soon, and so delightfully. Her heart raced to see his face when she would enter. It was almost _exhilarating_ just thinking about it.

It was simple, go in, tell him, and let all of the next sequence of events transpire.

She's already accounted for the _visitors_ coming late for the party tonight, but not like they even matter to begin with.

"You look like a kid who's ready to jump out of a rollercoaster while it's going straight down a railing." The blind-folded gorgon commented. She almost smacked him for that one. _Almost_.

Cinder was a woman of execution and satisfaction in results, nothing would steer her away from that. Ever. Beside her were three individuals. One was a woman in bi-color theme of pink, brown and white, who was literally named after what color theme she took on, Neapolitan.. The other was some green-haired folk she invited to the party after recalling the legends and stories that involved him- Guriggen. Third and least importantly, Mercury, the gray-styled striker who served as her servant.

Getting into the elevator and accessing it was simple enough. Use their school ID, get into school uniform, and also grab an extra uniform for Gurrigen and give him enough tools he could use as a disguise until they could get into the elevator.

Done.

So when the elevator bell rung, they found the headmaster gazing out his glass wall idly. The group stepped out from the elevator, having already felt the tension that was already airborne in the environment as they'd stop when they maintained an exact distance of twenty-five feet away from each other.

"I never did think that it would be the transfer students from Haven." The headmaster stated as he took a sip from his mug of coffee.

"Wise." Cinder sarcastically replied, letting the rest of her 'crew' to relax and take seats at the chairs placed infront of the desk, leaving Cinder to roam freely around the room and trace her burning finger across the wall in a light pace, "Then you know what I'm here for, Ozpin?"

"… I do. Though, it doesn't mean I'm willing to give it to you, despite these comrades of yours that remain present in my room." His golden irises trained on her from the corner of his eyes. She smiled at that.

"You _will_ give it to me, or else you can only expect the worse. You already know what's to come if you don't. I know of the Atlesian General on his way here, though I'm afraid he's going to be late for this… _'meeting'_." Cinder let a sly grin come across her face when leaning her back against the wall, crossing her arms and eyeing the headmaster.

"I'm afraid that your hidden _'threats'_ aren't going to work. As it seems, we have something that can easily counter you, despite your half of the Fall Maiden capabilities." Ozpin took another sip of his coffee, his eyes returning to the sight of the wilderness beyond Beacon.

"Oh?" She restrained from chuckling, eyebrows raised doubtingly, "There's nothing you have that's stronger than my own powers, Ozpin. I've searched every part of your academy, I've accessed and hacked into virtually _all_ accounts and data of what you could possibly have here _and_ in Vale."

For some reason, there was the implementation of some kind of disturbing silence that Cinder Fall didn't want there. Her eyes shifting from doubt to a glare towards the headmaster of Beacon. It wasn't until then that another legend had began to click in her head by then, "… You _lie._ " She hissed with restraint, not noticing the looks that Mercury and Neapolitan were sharing towards her.

But even the gorgon who sat alongside them in the room was taking this gleefully, his foxy smile inverted upside-down. For what lingered in the air about the room would be the same as a flea looking up to the face of a dragon. It blared outwards instead of just _looking_ that way. The contrast between typical hostility and actual hostility differing so greatly that it _hurt_.

Cinder set one hand on fire, teeth gritted together, "You. _Lie._ " The half-maiden immediately stormed towards the headmaster and had gotten up to his face, glaring with eyes that held an ire within them, "Crocea Mors is a myth, and even if it were here, everyone would have _seen_ it."

"Then you'd have no need to over react when I implied that I have it within my ally's custody, would've you?" His head turns to return the cold hidden glare to her amber ones. It was clear that a veteran hunter such as him held no fear to someone as powerful as her. It almost disturbed Guriggen- an infamous murderer amongst societies.

At that moment, everyone had drawn their weapons upon the headmaster just when he had revealed a clockwork cog with a green hue schematic embedded in the ground beneath him. His cane remained elevated slightly from the ground, and his eyes allowed examination of every assailant that stood before him.

Least expected to the entirety of those occupants within the room, a ding.

And as they looked towards the origination of the sound, their eyes fell upon the opening elevator doors of the blond haired man who stepped in with confusion and several books in hand.

"… Jaune?" Ozpin asked with an almost croaked voice, as… he almost sounded _terrified_ about him entering the room now. Never did the headmaster intend on having Jaune enter the office at all…

… Guriggen pulled down the blind fold that sealed his eyes, his tail wrapping around the chair as he stood up and slung it towards his direction.

 **:: ~%~ ::**

 _"I recently told Jaune to head up to the headmaster's if he wanted to know more about the academy. I suppose if it's for an emergency… I'll let you go see Jaune and the headmaster- but if they're busy, you are to leave them alone."_

The voice of Glynda Goodwitch echoed from the back of her head, as Ruby smiled delightfully on the way up. What she felt now… it felt genuine. And it needed to reach his ears before the end of today.

By the time that bell had rung, the elevator doors swung open, and the first thing she saw had been the blond she had been desperately searching for, as she stepped forward and smiled towards him.

But that smile fell as he began to step in front of her, as time took the gradual decline, and all she saw was him screaming something at her before her eyes caught onto the oncoming chair that was slung their way. It suddenly turned to stone before breaking apart into smaller pieces, becoming spikes mid-flight.

The next had happened all too fast for her to comprehend, despite her semblance, as Jaune stood with multiple chunks of rock embedded into his chest shortly after, and collapsed onto the ground before her. The room fell inactive as her silver eyes focused upon Jaune's body, kneeling down beside him and nudged him lightly, her hands shaken, her eyes watering.

"… Jaune?"

 _This pain… hurt, and swelled so much in her chest._


	11. The Stranger Who Was A Soldier

**The knight wished for this life to end, so that he would continue onto a different one that wasn't this.**

What he felt wasn't emotional pain.

But rather, it was what he felt as a whole, in a single body, as a single person.

"I had wondered how it was like to die a normal person." Gilgamesh pondered as he walked circles around the laying blond.

"I wonder how it would have been for all the others as well if they had died normal people." Their crimson irises target Jaune, looking down upon him in pity and disgust. As Jaune laid there on the ground, all he could see was the blurry ceiling and the outlines of the fragments that impaled his chest. Leaking from the bottom of his vision was spurts of red. And now that he could taste it very faintly,

It tasted awfully a lot like blood.

 _The flashing images that were burned into his mind a long time ago resurfaced,_

 _And it showed him the blood that was spilled from his hands._

 _The mountains of corpses that sat on fiery hills, impaled with broken banners and red-caked weapons._

 _The vast accounts of war beasts, walking armors, slaves, and innocent men._

 _But there was never an end to that bloodshed._

"Jaune, Jaune! Please… please come back to me!"

That voice echoed in the air, as Gilgamesh could only sigh after an irritate expression was shared to the librarian, "If only I were you, perhaps all that power could be mine. Yet… here you are, dying, suffering, haunted. Like you've always have. There simply isn't an end for you. You can never find your peaceful end- which you've been searching for, for all this time."

Gilgamesh's form blurs and then dissipates. Instead, Jaune felt something wet splat against his cheeks and then rolled off to the side. When his vision would clear the blurring by very slight, he recognized that distorted form. The brunette hovered over him, her teeth gritted, her eyes sealed shut. He could note the small drips of the darker red that tainted her bottom left cheek, some managing to even reach toward the bridge of her nose.

Jaune gave a soft cough, as he couldn't feel his body. It felt agonizingly numb.

All but his hand and the back of his head felt warm. The body that positioned beside his felt warm. Somewhere far away from him, he hears sounds of metal rings and shattering glass. Stone breaking.

"Please come back to me, Jaune…"

 _'That voice… I…'_ Jaune's half-lidded eyes tried to focus on that person closest to him- their face near to his own. A hand rose, and what he saw flying by above her was the white dots that trekked by them peacefully.

No… it wasn't snow.

But petals.

"I…" The sobbing of a young girl reaches his ears, and all he could do right now was listen to that pleading, "I want you… to come back to me, Jaune." They cried, the tightening grip around his hands becoming even more stressed.

It clicked in his head.

 _Ruby._

The white petals soon became the numerous counts of friction that flew overhead. His body was being lifted off the ground slightly, most likely from the hand that supported his head up and the other that was used to hold his hand endearingly.

Her face was wet with tears that came down her cheeks and transferred onto his to continue their sorrowing journey. It pained his heart- a pain that he began experiencing more intense than ever. Her cry reached his ears, reached his sights… and eventually, what triggered what he felt in his chest. This phantom pain of his.

Ruby Rose cried, and she cried over the form of the fallen blond with chunks of stone embedded into his body. In which aura would protect the individual from bodily harm, it proved hazardous for one who didn't have it. Jaune's fingers twitched, and Ruby felt it from her hand. Her eyes widened, and immediately, she rested her forehead against his as she tried to smile, sniffing and sobbing, "J-Jaune… I… why did you have to jump in the way..? Those spikes… they were just going to damage my aura. Your body's…"

The azure irises focused on the up-close face, feeling the warmth of their connected foreheads. Jaune's body was slowly turning to stone, from where the outlines of where the stone impaled him, it was the first to become stone in which slowly spread across his body, like an infectious disease. He could feel her breath wash over his lips, and he felt the air from his lungs give off weakly, "… I… won't say goodbye."

The two felt the ground tilt, and she promptly clung onto his body desperately from sliding down the adjusted platform. From the center, Cinder had injected an arrow straight into the ground, causing it to crack apart to divide the ground into four different platforms. It caused most of the platforms to shift, causing Ozpin to end up on one side to fight against primarily Guriggen, Cinder and Neapolitan.

Mercury was sent to stroll over to the remaining two, most likely to finish them off as Ruby hugged Jaune close to her and glared at the silver-headed individual. The silver assailant did naught but laugh it off as he took his time heading towards them, "Really? You think you can put up with me?" He made a shrug, "You're kidding. Your boyfriend is going to become _complete_ stone in a little bit and the last thing you want to do before you die is to _hug onto him_?"

"Back. Off." Ruby hissed as she planted Crescent Rose into the ground, the gun barrel aimed out towards him as she fired. The speeding round missed as he swerved his head to the side just as quickly. The silver-eyed huntress gritted her teeth, firing off more useless rounds until the cartridge was empty, hearing nothing but clicks in the end and the laugh of the silver-haired foe.

"Ruby, Jaune!" The headmaster shouted from his end as he attempted to accelerate towards the two before being kicked back to the other side by the multi-colored girl unsuspectingly.

During his little laugh, he clutched onto his stomach for a little while before looking down to the ground, stabilizing himself from the platform beneath them tilting even more. "Woah- how about this then..?" Mercury's leg shot forward, and then right back down, cracking multiple veins into the ground before causing the entire ground beneath the two to break into small chunks.

Jaune's vision blurred every motion that was made, only to stop for a minute when Ruby caught onto his wrist tightly, her other hand used to grip onto the handle of Crescent Rose while it was stabbed into the ground. His body became mostly stone, and Ruby grunted loudly from the increasing amount of weight.

"Jaune..! Please… hang on as long as you… can!"

The blond librarian looked up to her gradually, his breathing slowing dangerously. His head rang loudly, and his eyes focused on the desperate look on Ruby's face.

She needs to live.

Not for her own sake… but his as well.

There was so much he wanted to assure her with- to say to her.

But this body failed him. His fingers slowly grayed when small slabs of rock formed over it, and he began to slip his own hand out of hers. The expression she gave was from being desperate to shock when trying to tighten her fingers around his wrist as much as possible, but the slick rock forming on him didn't provide any grip.

Once that time had come…

 _"Don't fall in love with me." Jaune had once said at her bedside._

… he began to descend, holding his hand out to her when his vision blackened, falling to the distant below.

All he heard from thereon was the screaming of his name from the brunette's lips.

 **|| :: m :: ||**

Qrow hurled the nearest White Fang member at another, causing the two to tumble over as an unsuspected third one ran towards him, but somehow slipped on a banana before tumbling into a trashcan.

After making a quick 'phew', the usual drunkard eyed the flaming surroundings.

The attack came quickly and suddenly, no one expected it the most. When Qrow turned around to punch another in the face and took another examination, it came to his attention that they've destroyed vital facilities of the academy. The weapons rocket lockers for the students, the engineering bays, medical facility and secondary routes that would lead to the safety shelters.

With things that went by here, it grew drastically worse by the second.

The amount of White Fang members that invaded outnumbered the total amount of actually armed huntsmen that were trying to defend the academy grounds. Many students went scrambling about in the panic after the first explosion that set off in the dining hall. Others were afraid of the terrorism that was brought upon the place. Qrow gritted his teeth, taking out his flask in the brief moment of conflict and rose it to his lips.

Before he could take a single sip, a bullet clanged against the side of his whiskey flask, his head recoiling back and perking a brow to the canister to see the bullet that left a rather small dent in it's side. Thank the creative minds of bulletproof flasks. A smirk caused his lips to curl as Qrow glanced over to see who it was, as the White Fang-affiliate took aim at him with a rifle from afar.

"Qrow." Someone called out to him as he was pushed aside gently, causing the bullet to hit the ground instead. A slender hand placed on his shoulder, the drunkard glanced to the white-haired specialist that practically saved him a shot. Her other arm was extended out towards the affiliate and smashed them directly into the ground with an ice-composed dove. Rendering them instantly into the state of unconsciousness.

"Good to see you too."

Winter merely glared at him, then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, completely forgetting she had left her hand on his shoulder. Soon enough, a squadron of armed individuals in white armor took security of the surrounding, rifles put to use to provide decency of defense and offense, "I hate to say this, but-"

He had a feeling that he knew what she was about to say, so naturally he went with it, speaking the same time as she did. "-I was right?"

"-you were right."

A pause. It took Winter an entire second to realize it and glared coldly at him again, "You little-"

"Love you too." The Branwen gave off a smug grin as he rose his hand to his shoulder, prying hers off him just so he could briefly give her hand a squeeze. An almost prompt response when she squeaked loudly in a high-pitched tone, jerking her hand away from his as her face fumed a red glow, "Q-Qrow! N-Now's not the time for public indecency!"

"Means we can always try some time later." He replied subtly and turned around, drawing his sword and pocketing the flask, "Eitherway, we got some trouble here. We have several hours to try and hold our ground the best we can until Ironwood gets here." Qrow lowered the edge of his sword down by his side, eyeing the mass of White Fang members that began to approach them from all sides.

The Schnee 'hmph'd' and drew her saber, her chin raised as the smallest of smiles crossed her lips, "… yes. Maybe." She muttered, leaving the raven-haired hunter to glance over and perk a brow. Winter's grin flattened into a thin line the moment he turned his head. She briefly gave a light cough into a fist and nods, charging forward, "I'll hold you to that, Qrow."

Qrow ran forward with her, ducking as a bullet whizzed over his head. The rest of her squad took follow with their hybrid weapons. Again, he perks a curious brow to her, "Hold me to what now-"

The Branwen, Schnee, soldiers and even the White Fang stop everything as the look up to the massive dragon that flew overhead and headed towards the top of the tower.

 **|| :: o :: ||**

"Where'd all these White Fang guys come from?!" Yang slammed her fists together after decking someone in the face.

"I don't know, but there's too many of them! There's not many hunters that are available to fight right now if they don't have their weapons!" The faunus of RWBY shouted, colliding blades with another White Fang member to keep them at hold. Her foot thrusted forward to kick them away, "Where's Ruby?!"

A loud gasp was heard as ice was injected into the ground, freezing multiple individuals in a thick casing of ice. Weiss turned around with widened eyes, "Ruby! She went to the headmaster's office the last time I heard from her! Quick, maybe she's safe with Headmaster Ozpin!"

The rest of the team nod, quickly taking down those that were around them to turn and run towards the elevators that would lead them to the Headmaster's office.

Only to be stopped by the massive machine that crashed into the ground before them, as the trio watched it stand up and gaze menacingly at them. The red lights flash on, giving off a beaming glow of crimson from across the Paladin's visor, and the gatling guns and swords mounted to its arms whir ominously.

Too shocked to move reactively to the oncoming mechanical fist from the war machine, the three braced for impact when it came curving in on them. Their arms would raise to cover their heads, closing their eyes and waiting for it to come. Yet, it never came.

A magenta aura pulsated from beside them, creating some kind of hexagonal barrier that rejected physical contact between flesh and metal. It defended them like a force field, as the one casting this was one who held his palms outwards to take on the force. The black-haired man with a pink highlight in his hair gritted his teeth, "Nora! A little help here!"

"Nora?" Yang questioned until hearing an explosive maniac's laughter coming from a girl falling straight towards their position.

Soon enough, Blake followed up with the answer to that as her face seemed just as dumbfounded. Her amber eyes tracking someone signified with pink descending, "… Nora."

Weiss gave no response other than a nod.

WBY of the team duck as a pink explosion set off right on the machine, combined with a loud metallic clunk that most likely meant heavy metal meeting heavier metal. It triggered a second explosive as a ginger flew right past them, landing and sliding backwards on her feet as the team was introduced to a hammer-wielding grenade maniac. A mischevious grin crosses that girl's face as she winked and waved, "Nnnnnnooora!"

"Nora!"

"Oop- coming Ren!~" She skipped forward to the black haired teen afterward, leaving the trio to blink several times and stare at the duo. Never have they met a pair like those two. And at the same time, help was help, as Nora managed to leave a dent already in the top plating of the Paladin. It had staggered back after the heavy impact, sparks of lightning visible from the top.

"Thanks for coming to help." Weiss said as she stood to the side of the two newcomers.

"No problem. We thought we'd visit to see what was up. Didn't expect a bunch of fighting though." The teen named Ren whisked his hands out to his sides, two bladed SMGs in green unfolding into his grasps.

Nora hoisted Magnhild over her shoulder and smirks, "But hey! If it means we get to break legs, then let's break legs!"

On cue, the Paladin rolled forward swiftly, causing the group to leap off to both sides and open fire upon the war machine. With constant bullets and rounds of grenade canisters meeting the armored shell, the Paladin flailed about briefly before drawing out a crimson-edged blade that had been proportional to its size. It swung outwards, attempting to cut down the hunter/huntresses.

"Ren!" Nora shouted over with a gleeful expression, and Ren merely nods to her when holding both palms behind his sides.

"Yang!" Blake called out, the busty blonde smirking and held out her arm behind her, palm faced towards the sky.

Weiss flipped out of the blade's trajectory, waving Mytrnaster in the air and causing two white glyphs to form in front of both Yang and Ren the moment they had jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding the massive sword.

Blake placed her foot upon Yang's hand, drawing Gambol Shroud back and leaned forward.

Nora hopped several inches away from Ren's front with the soles of her feet directed to him.

Simultaneously, Ren and Yang launch their partners through the acceleration glyph and caused the two to become nothing but a blur, mixing between black and pink. The Faunus accelerated straight up into the air, spinning horizontally parallel to the ground way below. The other was sent straight towards the mech, slamming the front of Magnhild straight into its shell again and left another dent, but this time, deeper and more of an impact. On the recoil, Nora sprung straight up into the air, using Magnhild as a momentum-booster when flinging upwards.

Blake tossed out the hilt of Gambol Shroud, the ribbon wrapping around the waistline of the ginger and pulling her back, using the elastic properties to blur Nora behind her, "Weiss!"

The Schnee nodded, "I'm on it!" Her hands clap together around the hilt of the rapier, and the cartridges would turn rapidly to the point it looked as if it were overheating, glowing bright red before clicking to a complete halt, the heat transitioning from the cartridge to the blade itself. Stabbing the tip of Mytrnaster into the ground, fire began to trail towards the direction of the Paladin, stopping three quarters of the way there when causing a pillar of flames to erupt from the ground and occupying the sky with fire.

Multiple white glyphs completely sphere around Blake, as Nora passed through every one of them, no matter the curve or angle. Each glyph—an accelerator. And as every motion was made, it would double.

It spend to the point that it was nothing but an atom-like design. Where the rings were pink, and the core was black. The Paladin's head began whirring to look up, met with the absurd sight of what abomination cooperation had made before being suddenly struck in the side by some blinding pink streak of light. Then another. And another.

Pieces of plates came off, and electricity sparked out from where the impacts were made. Dents, numerous amounts of them. Nora sped across the flaming pillar, her hammer taking the very head of the fire and dragging it with it as the fire serpented and coiled around the standing armor shell. Lightning began to mix with the fire as it spread across the circuits.

It overboarded to the extent that the pilot of the Paladin was forced out, screaming for their life as they fled, and the machine was beaten, battered and broken. Left as rubble and debris to cling in the air. But most importantly...

"Leeeet's break their legggs!"

… that.

The legs came off like a piece to a jenga puzzle. Blake and Nora would land on the ground, fist-bumping each other very briefly before standing up and reuniting with the rest of the group, each one smiling at one another, despite having just met.

"Woah." Yang's eyes widened at the dragon that flew to the top of the tower... as did everyone else eventually.

 **|| :: o :: ||**

Jaune—once again—stood in the world of black. Not a single light seeped through, and his body was the only visible thing within this darkness of his.

This cold feeling of being alone and rejected was already something familiarized with. For once, he could consider this to be the paradise to his own mentality. Every other time he had been here, it had always been the re-occurring nightmare of a deserted barren battlefield filled with nothing but violent aftermaths.

"What is it that you sought for, dear Jaune?" The royally garbed man inquired when sitting on an aged, rusted throne no longer meant to be sat on upon by a king. Yet there he was, sitting on it. Funny. "You are haunted by your promise, just as you are cursed by your wish."

"I know that, Arthur." Jaune hovered there for the passing moments of which felt like an eternity, his body drifting within the void he found himself in, "I... sought for something I yearned to be years ago." His eyes squinted slightly, staring at the pitch black void that swallowed him whole.

"I feel as if... I've forgotten a crucial part of myself. What made me who I was back then."

Jaune was sitting on a wooden chair by then, as he stared at the darkness. Raising his head slightly, he eyed the man in complete bandages aside from his upper-half of the head. Crimson eyes glared into him, and the golden runes on their bandages emanated faintly. He props his head on a fist, elbow planted onto the arm rest of the golden chair he laxed upon. A replacement to who originally sat there, the king that was in royal garbs.

"Here I was, thinking that you would never even try to find yourself. It disgusted me that you were just so capable, yet so... _fragile_." Gilgamesh sighs, shaking his head. Jaune's eyes lower to the 'ground', his hands folded together, "Remember." The bandaged man said lightly, a semi-glare fixed upon the blond librarian, "Recall every single agonizing curse that is branded into your body—your every ambition. Your very _being_."

His image fades, and all Jaune saw next was the white fur of the Beowulf that now stood before him, staring down upon him with absolute silence. Jaune stared in sadness back to the Beowulf, "You always did seem to understand." He said, as the Beowulf shook its head.

"I understood, because I was the very monster that my own home feared in the end." It said, as it turned around to walk away, "Just as your home was sent asunder, and your world was torn apart, this story of mine—or the others—would never compare to yours and what you needed to endure."

Jaune frowned, and stood up from the wooden chair that slowly turned to ash. He looked at the back of Beowulf's head, "I'm sure that all stories would have had a happy ending if I wasn't around."

"You simply did what you had to—because no one else was willing to. Do you remember my blood on your hands from that day, Jaune?" It turned its upper-body halfly, the golden eyes focused primarily upon the blond, "Or... do you perhaps remember yourself?"

The elder white Beowulf faded.

And once again,

She was there to try to save him.

"… Can you finally let this go, Jaune?" The red-headed warrior asked as she walked up to him, letting her leather-gloved hands rest gently on his cheeks. Those haunting emerald eyes stared into the azures, and that of a sympathetic smile of an old comrade was shared to him, "Our promise was already accomplished from so many years ago. You've done what no man, Grimm or being could have ever done, and took it upon yourself."

"I still cannot find myself at peace, Pyrrha. It's been... _long_. Everywhere I turn... I only find myself burning. The smiles that I've cherished to see when I've saved them, they become bloody and pale the next second."

She... was sad. Her expression was clearly written with such thing. Pyrrha took a step back as her hands lowered from his face. Pained, clearly. Her emerald eyes travelled down to his hands to find the blood that stained his entire arms. It dripped bitterly from the ends of his knuckles, as if it were still as fresh as the nightmares.

Closing her eyes, Pyrrha rose a hand to her chest. Her head lowers, and a tear begins to slide down her cheek, "I'm... sorry, Jaune." Her teeth grit as she fades, "All I ask of you... is to please _remember. Remember_ what and who you are..."

Gone, and Jaune stood in the dark silence. A sigh leaves his mouth, and he closes his eyes, wanting to sleep.

Opening them, he felt the rush of the cold breeze wash over him. Snow covered the ground around him, and the dead trees about are covered by snow in this forest.

The blond librarian raises his head slightly to follow the track of footprints that lead up ahead, accompanied by a bloody trail that it left behind.

By the time he reached the source, Jaune's breath hitched, his eyes wide.

...

He remembers now.

Because what she left that day was colder than what the winds could bring him from the winter environment.

 **He felt something thump harder within his body-**

 _ **-Not sadness.**_

 **He felt the thunder that roared within his mind-**

 _ **-Not the apparitions.**_

 **He felt the day that he would one day hate the world-**

 _ **-Not himself.**_

 _"I..."_

Jaune's teeth gritted together, his eyes narrowed into a glare upon the body of a woman with a white cloak, who laid upon the ground, curled up on her side like a ball as blood pooled from her wound.

Looking up, he was met with the very eyes of a world that would bring him that forgotten piece of him. The golden eyes of which the dragon burned into his body.

For what he forgot was...

 **|| :: n :: ||**

Ozpin panted heavily, cornered and beaten while kneeling to the ground, blood coming down from the multitudes of cuts, gashes and bruises he's sustained since the battle began. There was still three hours before the general of Atlas would get here to save the city and Beacon. But that amount of time now seemed to be too long to bring any kind of hope from.

Before him stood Ruby Rose, holding her scythe with anger wreathing from her being, yet she was just as beaten. Her spirit merely rejected to accept the defeat. The four assailants across the room from them took their time. Guriggen stood in front of the huntress-in-training, a coy grin on his face as his tail smashed into Ruby's side, causing her to recoil and cough out a small amount of her blood.

"Give up." He told her, as the entire roof was removed from the ground. In the shock had been Ruby, Ozpin, Neapolitan and Mercury as a dragon clung to the edge of the roof, its eyes glaring upon the huntress and headmaster of Beacon, "You have no chance now... and this is _my_ victory."

As the sun withdraws, its final light glimmers over Vale and Beacon.

The gleam of light that shone within the eyes of life began to make a final departure...

The air draws cold, and the full moon came...

Mercury hmph'd at the sight at the moon... until something dawned on him.

When had the moon ever been intact? He had never seen the pieces of the moon reforming to the main body of the moon at all. His expression fell deathly as it cracked from the center, no matter how far away the Moon of Remnant was. It didn't settle right with him.

 _At all._

All heard a roar that was not from the dragon that was currently there with them. It was a roar that caused Remnant as a whole to tremble—as if Remnant had the ability to be afraid of something more terrifying than existence.

The moon broke apart into complete pieces, and a silhouette the size of the moon itself caused a quarter of those flying remnants to part way. It blended in with the night sky, practically invisible to the naked eye in camouflage.

"Uh... Cinder? Guys? We-"

By the time Mercury turned around, he found the reason why no one was saying anything, or even noticing the phenomenal change.

Everyone stared in complete fear at a man who stood over Guriggen, grasping the Gorgon by the face with a single hand and pressed farther away from Ruby Rose. Nine horns. Armor. Tattered robes.

With so much fear, an individual can only give so vague of a detail.

The man wore that of a bone-like helm that only covered the upper-half of his face. Hair of black was visible from behind the cover, however, the very tips of the ends of their hair was darkly blond. Nine horns protrude from their head. A set of horns that was similar to a ram's own curled from the side of their head, tips aimed forward. Connected to the same spot were horns that curled around, but this time, curled up and aimed back. A third set, in which straightly shaped to the rear. One final set are the two horns that rose from the top of the head, leaned far back and hugged close to the head.

The ninth horn—the horn that appeared to angle straight up and most likely positioned itself from right behind the semi-helm's covering.

Scales of black and violet hug along the man's jawline corners, embedded deep from within the skin. Numerous scars were evident on their face. A scar over the bridge of their nose, a scar along the bottom left cheek, and a scar that seemed to stretch horizontally across his throat. Skin like plastic, the roughened parts of his visible lower-half of the face was seen with cracks, like you would on a wall. Cracked skin, as they would call it.

They wore robes that remained mysterious to any's knowledge, and the only armor they had donned was that of the shoulder-piece that aged and rusted. It bore a symbol that all had forgotten from how ancient it was.

Malice rushed out from this character.

And it released profusely.

It forced all to their knees, suffocating from the deprivation of air. Cinder held her throat and coughed loudly, wheezing and hacking as her eyes widened at the sight of her saliva splattering the ground from the lack of a life necessity- oxygen. Their skins inherited the goosebumps of which fear had absorbed itself from the entity that stood before all.

Ruby winced, her hands trembled, and she tried hard to breath through the blurring of her vision, trying to identify the back of the newcomer's head. They looked... frightening. Menacing. As if they were about to kill and tear without a moment's of hesitation.

The dragon that clung to the tower froze in place... as even it was afraid.

What all of Vale would see that day was a sight never to be forgotten.

As a dragon more collosal than Cinder's own appeared behind the insignificant one. With golden eyes, gold plates of armor, and golden veins trekking across its body, the ancient dragon's wings unfold, as it was wings composed entirely of golden feathers. With how close they are, one's peripheral would only reach about a third of the size of its chest.

To see it entirely would mean flattening the world of Remnant like a map... and being a quarter of the world away.

Guriggen screamed as his head began caving in under the grasp of the man, as blood began spurting out from all of his pores very slowly—from rivers to waterfalls. The Gorgon could see the eyes of the one behind that visor.

The eyes with two golden crescents glowing within it and black scleras. Their eyes were filled with an emotion that he had never thought he would fear in his life, given how gleeful he was to see others go through it in a fit.

Ruby gagged for oxygen, trying to breath as she inquired, "H-Headmaster... what... is that..?"

Ozpin's eyes widened, his irises shrunk to the size of dots in beholding of the appearance... his lack of air had very little to deal with his tone of question.

"… Crocea... Mors...?"

For what Jaune forgot...

 **… was the rage of five worlds pented together.**


	12. The Soldier Who Destroyed The World

_***[ A warning note is heavily advised from the team to be precautious of immense gore for the chapter. Details of oncoming immense gore will be noted by []'s! ]***_

 **||| c |||**

 **The knight sought nothing but the destruction of the world.**

He fell…

… he fell through the dark, as dark as the night would be.

… but he fell like a thunderbolt.

Jaune stood in the pouring blood rain that pelted against his naked skin of face, hair drenched of the oozing red liquid that came down upon him from those dark black clouds. The sky remains pure of white, and the grounds were martian. Here stood a blond that was depraved of hope and dreams.

He donned chinked armor that was stained by the red. Rusted and beaten, it was a single simple chest armor plate that now hung loosely from one shoulder from the strap being severed. On his right shoulder, he wore an armor that once magnificently dressed over it that resembled a dragon's upper-skull, marked with the symbol of two crescent gold moons that remained partial from scratches and dents.

The knight's right-side of the back is overlaid by a white tattered scarf that was substituted as a cape in the times of war. This cape held no significant importance. Only that it was worn by the one bounded by rules.

In black robes that went split off near the lower-half, it ends with two tails at the back hem. The hems were dyed white- contrasted from the black shade in which made the material. It looked nothing more than a longcoat, the high collar it came with withered oddly down from being stained with blood. His right arm- covered by an over-lengthed sleeve. The opposite- a sleeve in which only extended to the elbow on the outer-side, and the middle of his bicep on the other. Boots are worn in place of converses, black in comparison to the blackened dress pants that matched.

It was an odd sense of fashion, but it was considered professional in those days.

Because beneath this long coat, he wore a black vest and red tie.

One could simply say that Jaune went monochromatic with his sense of clothing… if it weren't for the rain.

So here the knight sat, on a red hill and looking up to the desperate skies that did nothing but remind him of the failure he once made himself to be. Beside him rested a rusted sword and shield. The broadsword itself is snapped into halves, yet the broken tip of it was baked in the profuse amount of dark crimson. The heater shield proved no better with its chipped edges and web of cracks veining across the right side.

He sat within an environment that reeked of a familiar scent.

 _-Decay._

The world around him in this red-dyed desert was soiled with body after body—of all races, all beasts, all weapons, all _life_. It didn't matter the age either. From infants to children, teens to adults, and the elderly... he recalls every one of these faces. The downright given feeling of guilt and depression rode over him like a tidal wave. All he could do was stare at the sky that took pity on him by drowning him with this guilt.

Some of them were soldiers—ones he had fought and those he fought alongside with.

Some of them were beasts—beasts that were once enemies and beasts that were once friends.

Some of them were friends—those that eventually cursed or said goodbye to him.

This wasn't sadness.

This was common to him—these visions and worlds he's travelled through his mental state. It was funny, per say. Even with the guilt.

Jaune's head raises, and across the red sands from the top of the dune he sat upon, there was a woman standing with her back faced to him on the neighboring dune peak. Her bronze armor wasn't touched by a single red droplet that came down from the dark clouds. Instead, it shined faintly—the crimson aura that emanated from her felt warm. Strong, and vibrant. Even the spear and shield of gold-bronze in her grasps were tight and steady.

A bronze circlet around her head only emphasized her presence.

His azure eyes gaze idly upon her—filled with nothing but an empty void. His eyes closed, and he'd sigh. She was already gone by the time he opened his eyes again to see the woman dissipate into embers.

There lingers a pain within him in which stayed for almost the entire path he walked.

… despite being use to it, it ached more than ever from there. Where he once thought he no longer had of, it returned to give one single beat that echoed throughout his entire being.

-and it burned.

It was as if someone shoved him into a burning house, completely surrounded by nothing but asundered pillars and walls.

The feeling bubbled up within, boiling water that waved inside of him.

Jaune fell to his knees, planting them into the rough texture of the red sand beneath him. It was so painful—and immense. His hands grabbed at the hair on the sides of his head, his fingers twitching and pressed tightly against his skull.

An unsettling heat washes over him, and Jaune could do nothing but scream at the sky. Not one of fear or pain... but...

...

… _anger._

Echoing from inside his head, the spectral voice asked:

 _'I... am sorry. I am afraid I can no longer... control...-'_

It becomes quiet.

 **||| r |||**

"Looks like we scared off those humans pretty good." A masked terrorist with fox-like ears stated when walking alongside a partner, both holding rifles as they casually took their stroll around the destroyed ruins of Beacon, "… I'm just rather surprised that one chick had a Grimm that big on her side."

The other White Fang member with a wolf's tail looked up to see the wyvern at the top of the tower. He shudders, "Yeah... me too. Now I'm glad I didn't shoot her while I had the chance to back then."

"Same. You know, Adam's apparently out to get a girl back."

"Oh really? Where's he at? We should join up with him."

"I heard he's headin' over to the dining place that's on fire right now. The last set of guys we passed by mentioned one of the traitors was found by Adam and he was dealing with her—and some really hot blonde—oh." His voice went deep and low as he saw a stone hand sticking out of a pile of rubble and concrete. The two stopped to look at the hand, only to shudder right after, "Damn it... must be that Guriggen guy's work. He really is a legend."

"Yeah..." One of them approached the hand and pushed aside a piece of rubble that was at the base of it.

"Dude, what're you doing?"

"What? I'm just checking out who Guriggen might've gotten. Could be a girl... and we could... _well,_ keep her."

"… You are the weirdest mook I have ever met."

"A what now-?"

A crack veined itself across the stone hand's palm, causing the Faunus that didn't approach it to stand back with a jaw dropped, "W-what the..!?"

"Huh? What's up?" The Faunus tilted his head. Tracing his comrade's pointing finger, the masked member frowned at the sight of the crack, taking a step back, "W-when did... Has that crack always been there?"

"N-no! I don't think so!"

The two take a pause and glance to one another, nodding and lifting the ends of their barrels towards the rock-composed ligament.

"Hey, what are you two doing over there?!" Someone shouted from the background, as they were accompanied by eleven others that also glanced over to see what their companion was talking about.

The two of them turn their heads over their shoulders to shout back, "There's something weird over here! We think one of the humans Guriggen's petrified is coming back from being turned to complete stone!"

"What? You two better not be kidding m-!"

"Why would we be kidding?! Hurry, get over here!"

The group that interacted with them halted mid-rush towards the two, all of their jaws dropped. Some of them had literally tripped and fell on the floor, shaking violently as their sights were also tuned in on them.

The two of them were… confused? They weren't certain as to what caused the group to stop entirely. Their heads turn forward to-

 _Remnant stops, and when it stops, so does the rest of it._

Reality fell.

It fell to the terrorism of fear, as it reaches its claws out and takes ahold of the world.

 _A wise man fears change of three things;_

Both of their bodies froze in place, only feeling the absolute numbness of terror and horror deep within themselves. Their skin paled deathly gray, the rifles held in their hands clattered loudly in place from being shook back and forth. Not even a sound was drawn from their lungs as they tried to scream as loudly as they could.

 _1\. A disturbed sense of peace and tranquility…_

In a single claw of five digits, two hearts rested upon their palm. Their body wreathed in a black, deathly vapor that trailed off their entire being. Only a slit of gold glared upon them from through the thick vapor, as the humanoid figure with nine horns slowly curled their sharp fingers around the two beating hearts that bled on their palm. In which the duo stood before the omen, their sights slowly fall to the giant gaping holes in their chests. Not a single drop of blood came from it.

 _2\. The wavering of sky, land and water._

Red painted the walls, ground, rubble, debris, the victims, and the omen.

 **[** They close their hand around the hearts with a force that even pulsated out from around them and washed a sense of dread over all who witnessed. The soldier wreathed in darkness treaded forward past the pair, their arm lowering to their side as their hand releases both of the crushed hearts. **]**

It lands with a light splash, as it painted more of the ground…

 _3\. The turning of a kind man._

The wolf-tailed and fox-eared individuals tipped over and begin falling, blood shooting out from their backs like a broken faucet.

Gallons of blood drenched the remaining Faunus whole. The fearless become fearful; and the hopeful become despairing. He who sent the world into _divide_ … will only do it once more. As many times as it will be.

Those that lived felt- for the first time in their life- death claiming them centuries early. Even before birth.

The members of the White Fang regained their stand, each feebly getting back upon their two feet and readying their guns and swords. Their target had been none other than the entity that had sewn the very definition of terror into their hearts. Even with the smallest centimeter of their courage returning to them, they opened fire and let loose an onslaught of rounds upon the shadowy moniker.

With every round that impacted, it met with the outer shell of which composed and shaded the vapor as to what it is now.

The entity stepped forward when becoming shrouded by a secondary layer of bullet-smoke, forcing all those that opposed him to cower back with audible whimpers. Even those with a sleight of hand to reload their weapons had their performance reduced to a heavy degree, where bullets would eventually slide out of the cartridge and clatter loudly against the ground from attempts of being jammed straight into the magazine weld.

Others screamed, mindlessly rushing forward to attack him from head-on.

… and so, he wondered… how it _felt_ knowing that their efforts would _fail_.

A member of the group remained a step away from making direct contact with the omen, and already, their fate sealed even faster. Thus the imposing curse of the _Death Seal_.

 _The man remembered… he remembered the wooden stake he was impaled on, hoisted into the sky and set on fire. He who burned for decades on wooden posts, years after years… decades after decades…_

 **[** His palm connects with their face, flattening the front-half to the center of their skull and lethally ending their life. Blood spurted out from the half-exposed stump when the skin tore off from the base of the neck, along with the muscle that came with it. **]** Turning his head, there was another that regretted the decision they had made, as they stopped to backpedal the moment a death transpired right before their eyes.

 **[** The tips of his claws grip the squishy flesh and tore the tissue straight from the corpse itself in its mid-descent. The dark entity practically hurled it like a curtain over the retreating foe, causing them to flail and scream like a child trapped in the dark confines of an overlapping blanket. **]**

 _His eyes set upon the row of ballistae and archers. Spears loaded upon heavy armaments, arrows nocked back in their bows. In the middle of the blood-splattered coliseum, there stood a blond whose hands were tied behind his back, binded to a massive wooden cross post, barbwire tightly coiled around his neck to the point it bled profusely. The same applied even to his arms and legs, as a single lance was injected into his stomach to secure his binding to the execution pole. Tired eyes watch as the arrows and spears descend upon him in barrages._

His body moved like no other, a single motion led to afterimages, an oozing red liquid was used to make the colorless environment contrast greatly from how it looked the last time, and his capability to _seal destinies_ were implemented. Not because it had to be sealed… but because it was _the right thing to do_. This is the reward of those that-

 _'-ou m-t l-t it g-, J-n-…'_

 **-betrayed** him.

 **There was no point of saving those who were not willing to save themselves.**

 **He told himself.**

 **Countless times.**

 **[** An arm was torn off from one of the approaching prey, causing the gushing flow of crimson from the stump of their arms and left them screaming and wailing in an incoherent dialect in which he could not remember… **]**

… Because by then, he had already abandoned the capability to understand from his humanity.

The arm pierced through the chest of another. They had dropped their rifle to clutch at the ligament that was speared through them, only to have it caught by the monster that was presented before them in the appearance of a darkly aura'd character that had only spent two seconds killing- _massacring_ \- them.

Their count dropped.

From twelve to five in the count of those unaccounted seconds.

Seven, reduced to pieces, torn apart, or brutally murdered.

A tick, and the count was three by the dictation of time.

A tight grip firmly coils the discarded weapon, and it finds its momentum being redirected upwards in a slant, making impact with the side of the one who had originally dropped it. **[** Just as they screamed, their lower-half began detaching like strands from the upper-half as the muscles and organs were being relocated or severed. In the instance of a blink accelerated at ten times, one could slowly interpret the sight of one being smashed in the side with a weapon in the process of being broken into small pieces-

-and the upper-half of an individual being forcibly removed from the lower half, as the upper-half converted into nothing but mush and guts on impact. Along with the weaponized arm as well. The sight of space distorts on the other side of the victim, and the ground and walls crack curvedly. **]**

The White Fang member leapt back, their foot not yet leaving the ground as they pull the pin to a grenade and a flash bang simultaneously. The rings begin to pull the trigger off, only to be grabbed by an offending claw. **[** Before they could even gasp and lift their foot from the ground, their hand becomes crushed and torn off from the wrist. **]** With the reality terror presented on the field as nothing but a rage-filled menace, they begin to not only dominate the fight… but begin to slowly reconstruct the logic around them, as dictated by _Logic Alternation_.

 **[** In the midst of their hand being ripped from their wrist, something round smashes into the side of the retreating foe's head, and the sight of a flash bang being swung in one claw bashing into the neck of another comrade of theirs that had been trapped under removed skin. **]**

The effect… left a grenade lodged directly into the skull of the retreating terrorist, and a flash bang dug deep into the throat of the other.

Four seconds, and the trail of afterimages compile. The one wreathed in darkness dashed for the last two, who sought mercy at the hands of _nothing._

His torso levelled close to the ground, and his legs dragged forward, tearing the ground in the process. Both of his claws flexed out by his sides in the process.

Four and a half, **[** a claw impaled through the back of one's head and through the mask they donned, and the other's fingers dug deep through the top of their skull and through the brain. **]**

They continued to run, their bodies unable to catch up to their time of death before relieving their corpses to adore the ground shortly after.

He stood unphased by the explosion and the irritating buzz that occurred at the time the flash bang and grenade had set off behind him…

His body was drenched in their essence, and yet, he stood unfaltered. It felt…

 _Normal._

 **||| o |||**

Jaune stood by the unmoving form of a red-haired warrior, who laid on the ground in peace before him. A gold-bronze sword and shield rested atop her hands, in matching theme to her armor, save for the scarlet sash that wrapped around her mid-section. She had been covered in soot, scratches and cuts, yet it was fitting for a warrior like herself.

Yet… here stood Jaune, who was left isolated on a barren battlefield littered with bodies of war and weapons abandoned by their wielders. Fire licked the grounds. Hills and craters had been filled with water built up by the down-pouring rainfall.

Behind him… sat a dragon.

An elderly dragon whose mass retained a pitch-black shade. Adorned by plates of gold that trekked across their body like armor. Where the lightest of the plates composed the underside and sides of the colossus- sans the chest and face. Thicker plates of armoring were connected to the four legs in which it has, and along the entire top side of it. It formed heavily like a chestplate from the front, and continued to drag along up to the neck and to the head like pieces. Gold veins traced along the contours of its entire body, glowing faintly of a powerful essence.

Its wings remained tucked close to its sides, where golden scales and feathers mix and match across the entirety of its flaps.

A shattered golden halo of intricate design hovers above and behind it, as it almost resembled a fantasized angel's own for the one above its head. Only with a quarter of it appearing broken off, given the jagged edges it wielded at the missing portion.

The other was simply a magnified version of that, where it almost sized completely proportionate to its back and aligned itself parallel to the dragon's back. The broken portion of it was directed up along its spine and to the neck.

Nine-horns, and golden eyes, the dragon truly was one of a kind…

Yet, Jaune would not bother to face it. Only keeping his head tucked down to gaze upon the lifeless friend presented to him.

 _'You… have to save the world, Jaune.'_

"…"

It pleaded desperately, as the moon that was originally above was no more. The skies are tinted red, and the barren wasteland becomes darker.

Jaune's fists clench, and his teeth grit roughly together. The irritating- burning- sensation within his stomach and to his chest.

This feeling became unbearable to withstand now.

 _'Please… understand.'_

"To what extent… do I have to suffer this for..?" The blond asked, his tone deep, and his eyes shut, "I have saved everyone I could have… and yet they were taken by my own hands eventually."

Jaune experienced it all. The pain, the torture, the suffering. Enduring it all at once merely placed it right at the threshold.

"These nightmares… these wounds… all for…" His head began to shake, and the black mist that raised from the ground and coated him like aura, "… _nothing_."

 **It became strong.**

It became strong enough to cause the malignant vapor to pillar into the sky and construct a form that represented his ' _humanity_ '.

A demon, with a sour, bitter, wicked lipless grin whose teeth shaped like stone dagger heads. Eyes thin and sharp like a chesire cat. Two horns in which bent in an L-like angle. Wings spanned out fully from its sides, each 'feather' being in the form of various swords and weapons.

The representation became armed with wings, made of nothing but misted weapons. It rivalled the size of the dragon's own, as it faded off the body of the blond.

"I'll…"

 _'Save…'_

The voice became distant.

"… destroy…"

 _'… the…'_

"… world."

 _'… world.'_

Jaune became deaf to the reasoning,

And he became lost in the void.

 _His sin… was none other than being weak._

 **||| c |||**

"Yang..! Stop..!"

Blake grunted out loud within the burning dining hall, as Blake clutched her stomach from the wound inflicted by Adam.

Her partner was already running towards the red-haired Faunus, who merely waited with his hand readied over the hilt of Wilt and Blush.

Yang leapt forward, swinging her fist downward upon the man as her crimson eyes glared at him brightly. The masked foe's markings and hair began to illuminate the area around him, his hand unsheathing the blade from its sheath. In the same motion, the two began to near each other physically, her knuckles inches away from his face, yet his blade's edge narrowly swung around her oncoming fist and remained only a centimeter away from reaching her elbow to sever her forearm…

The wall nearest to them broke apart, bricks and debris smashing straight into the two combatants as they were sent flying across the dining hall. The embers from the lashing flames filling the building waved back, as if jumping from flammable furniture to another piece of furniture it could cling to.

The duo groaned audibly, each covered equally with the rubble.

And in an instant… Blake, Yang and Adam felt the weight of the world upon their shoulders.

Like needles picking and poking at every centimeter of their skin, the foreign feeling was… _entirely_ unwelcoming. It violated their sense of courage. It hurt, and the more they stayed, the more the irritating pain grew in intensity. All eyes began to trace to the source of this sensation… and froze at the sight of the darkly presence'd entity that had entered from the breached wall. The very black shroud of vapor that surrounded them… it wasn't aura. There had been a small mixture of crimson that flowed around the entity's being.

This feeling… was none other than _bloodlust_. In its purest form.

It was utter disbelief that a manifestation of it into a harmful force could be produced… yet, to experience it right now… it was agonizing. It became a torment of pain that had never been experienced before. Adam Taurus was certainly not one who had endured this sensation before, given how shaken he was when trying to get up on one knee. He was forced to use his sword as a support to stand up properly from the sudden weight of gravity pressing down on him entirely.

Yang remained still with bewilderment evident in her expression. Blake was not too different from her own partner's appearance. Both huntresses felt… _ill_ , as if _poisoned_ by the bloodlust that polluted the environment. The blonde stumbled to her feet as fast as she could, her breathing having suddenly entered a heavily panting phase when running straight towards her fallen partner and picking her up. Without a word, the two fled the dining hall, looking behind them to take one final glance over the newcomer with terror written in their eyes.

It was only by the time that the two partners would make it outside of the building, panting heavily- Blake as well, despite not running at all- and taking large inhales of air. The instant the stinging stopped prickling on their body, it was like complete relief of being set on fire and then being immediately cooled down with cold water. The two huntresses paled, looking at one another as Yang spoke, "What… what was that?!"

"I… I don't know," The Faunus hugged her arms. A near death experience. That's how it felt like inside the moment the enigma entered, "We… we shouldn't stay here. We need to go. Now."

Yang nodded concurringly, helping her partner stand and giving her support on her shoulder. Her lilac irises trail to her right arm, recalling how close the sword was to cutting her arm off. She looked on ahead with disappointment to the evacuation point placed, hurrying as best as she could.

They wasted no time getting to the courtyard, as they regrouped with Ren, Nora and Weiss as they were fighting off another paladin with several other teams in the area to aid them. The paladin exploded by the time the two partners arrived. Weiss grimaced at Blake's condition, "Blake, Yang, what happened?! Why did you two run off like that?!"

"We'll explain all of it later, some kind of super powerful person just stopped someone from killing the both of us!"

The heiress's eyes widened in shock, "What? What do you mean _'super powerful person'_ -?"

Blake interjected, wincing as she held a hand over her wound, "There's no time, Weiss, we have to go! We don't know if it's friendly or not, but we can't take any chances!"

Weiss eyed the two carefully before nodding hesitantly, "Alright, we're getting you treated as soon as possible! Guys, let's go!"

Everyone else followed suit when Weiss began leading the way towards the Bullhead port, dashing their way onward.

A building begins to crumble to the ground, getting their attention briefly as they watched a man in a blazer and crimson hair roll across the ground from the falling facility, covered in dust and scratches.

He raised his head, as Blake's expression saddened to see the mask of the White Fang cracked on their face, muttering, "I'm sorry, Adam…" Her blonde-haired partner glanced to her with a sympathetic frown as the group soon fled as quickly as possible from the vicinity.

Adam Taurus leaned heavily against the support of his katana, struggling to bring himself back up from the ground as he huffed in pain. Blood rivered down from the corner of his lips, soon wiping it off with his right sleeve and using his peripheral vision to rest eyes on the enemy presented before him.

Even after he attempted to bring the building entirely down upon the monster, he could see its silhouette emerge from the flames of the razed building, "… How are you not dead yet..?! Are you even human..?! Or anything at all?!"

The red-haired man stood up, readjusting his mask and leaned slightly forward to ease the pain aching across his back. His hand readied over the hilt of his signature weapon as the black-shrouded existence treaded towards him, the intense flames having no effect on them whatsoever. The entity walked on as if there was not a single care in the world to mind life-threatening hazards. Not even a single sign of aura was present to negate any kind of damage at all, only themselves.

"You… stay far away… from my people, my men, my friends..." Adam growls, hoisting Wilt and Blush up by his side and gradually withdrew the red-bladed weapon from its sheath, "I will put an end to you here…" His sights target at the supposed base of where the figure's neck would be, "… and save my people from the suffering you all have put them through."

Only an inch remained within the sheath, leaving the rest of the crimson blade exposed to the air by the time it managed to get close enough to attempt and strike him once again. He was met with an impact that would surely enough destroy Goliaths in a single blow. If it broke his blade, then so be it. This was something that needs to be stopped, for the sake of everyone he cherished.

A fist collides with his katana's edge, causing it to snap it in half.

Adam flew back several meters, his body smashing straight into a wall as it weaved a web of cracks in it. A blood-pouring cough ejected from his mouth, but never stopped him from his attempt to stop the powerful foe. The bull Faunus gritted his teeth and gave light limps, trudging towards them before breaking off into a full-on sprint. His entire body glew bright red, red that marked his blazer, to his cracked mask, and his hair as well. He was going to strike it back in return with its own force.

A single step away, and Adam Taurus found the motion of victory within his reach, returning the monster's own force at neck-point and reduced the ground behind it to complete rubble, "Grrrrraaaaaaaaaaah!" The man roared loudly as the broken sword began disintegrating from the power being returned, as reality altered themes.

Where the ground and people became silhouettes, and the air turned a single hue of red completely.

The moon slice levelled the buildings around them entirely as the upper-halves begin falling over in the slow progression of time. The neck of the silhouette belonging to the monster began to cut in, from where the blade had met…

In the blink of an eye, Adam's temporary alteration to reality's theme reverted, revealing the true colors of the world once more, and left nothing but a half-useful hilt in his now-profusely bleeding hand, where even the material of his glove was obliterated along with his blazer's sleeve from the forearm to the shoulder-point. No, his entire body bled heavily.

The monster before him remained frozen in place… until its form begins falling backwards, and its image distorts when blood began to pour from its lethal neck-wound.

"Do… not underestimate… me." Adam coughed again as his blood spilled upon the floor, his body trembling.

 **||| e |||**

 **Power.**

What he wanted… was more **power**.

His yearned for it- **desired it-** _sought for it._

Jaune believed that being _**weak is a sin of its own.**_

The lives he couldn't save, the corrupted lives he could've ended, the potential lives that could have been foreseen.

It became a demand for it, like an essential part of life.

His life only spoke with actions, words and choices so powerless it led to nothing but an endless route of unwanted endings and imposed countless suffering upon people who didn't deserve it. Why was it that fate denied him of this necessity? This privilege? Was it that he was more powerful than it, or that he needed to be kept restrained by the dragon that merged with his body?

The blond glared at the palm of his hand, trapped within the dark void he was confined in. Jaune looked at himself… and wanted nothing more than the justice that all deserved from thousands of years ago.

Denied of any sense of happiness from saving kids, denied of any sense of relief from saving the people.

 **He needed more power.**

 **He demanded to be stronger.**

 **He desired an ability to dominate.**

 _Jaune is dying, inside._

His azure irises glare upon the abyss that contained him, and watched as the dark red light seeped in from the crimson veining cracks that stretched across the invisible walls around him.

 _The blond-haired child, surrounded by flames of a torn down village reached out to a stormy sky with no hope of light visible._

His lungs were filled with air, and his body burned with rage. From the deepest part of it, projected a roar inhumane.

His humanity… _shattered_.

 _Cries unheard to the deaf skies, all it gave in response to him was rain to fall and thunder to drown the child's plead for someone to save him._

 _Pyrrha, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, Arthur, and unmentioned others that stood a far distance away from him fade into the nothingness one by one, abandoning him. From Gilgamesh… and ended with Pyrrha._

 _Once again, he was alone._

 _Just like he always was._

A voice cries out to him, only to be drowned out from the furious roar that let loose the existence of Remnant's worst enemy, finally unsealed from the chains that held him down. The apparitions that kept him from doing what he desired the most. A dragon that kept the truest of his powers away from him. Gone.

Jaune watched as the void around him break away… and the menacing hue of dark red filled his vision.

He sought to destroy the world.

 **||| a |||**

Adam watched with absolute terror that consumed his entire being, knelt upon the ground, holding his destroyed arm with his other hand. Outrageous torrents of winds capable of destroying buildings shot out from around a certain individual.

From through his cracked mask, his eyes widened, his jaw dropped- he witnesses an ascension. Adam's body lost function of itself. Not a single muscle or ounce of strength was willing to obey any of his commands, despite his instincts screeching at him to escape.

The oncoming night was cold as the day the world was turned to ice, and black shroud that surrounded the monster thinned out across the air like a blanket of Remnant's darkside.

His hair retained a jet black shade, the tips of his hair dyed with a dark blond coloring. The skull of a gray dragon marked by two crescent arcs was mounted upon his shoulder, binding a tattered white cape that draped down only one side of his body. His right arm was covered by an over-extending sleeve that seemed to have an excess amount of material, causing it to mostly flap wildly from the physics of air. The other arm went sleeveless, leaving only the tan flesh to be visible with veins of crimson stretched across it entirely.

The entity's claws were ended with a white hue, connected to a palm that was composed of black scales. The high-collar to their long coat was attached to a dark-brown fur mantle that waved back and reached down to the middle of his back. A vest and tie that matched from his internal suffering made itself apparent beneath the layer of the coat he donned, and the black pants that matched color to his combat boots. The coat itself was tattered alongst the bottom-regions of where the coat's hems were.

Golden horns reveal from his head- nine in count.

Yet, what had gotten the bull-Faunus to have the image burned into their mind… was the mask that donned over their face. It was almost similar to his own, in terms of how much it covered the upper-half of their face. The lower-half of his face was covered in scars and violet-black scales that covered his jawline.

His head turns, gazing upon the completed moon as the tremendous amount of force that exerted and influenced the entire courtyard continued to tsunami over all present.

 ** _The world about him shudders,_**

-and the moon cracks apart as a pitch-black arm guarded by yellow bone-like armor reaches out from within it, causing the half of the moon to break away into space and float inanimately. The arm recoils, gripping tightly against the edges of the moon's remaining half as the moon-sized beast began to pull itself out from within the moon's core… and the head of a massive dragon glared upon Remnant with bright golden eyes.

Adam's body lost comprehension of what transpired before him, incapable of accepting the reality that became altered by a single monster.

He watched- collapsed, beaten, and defeated- the masked enigma turn their head to glare down upon him through that ominous mask and through his own.

The fallen buildings, the destroyed surfaces, and nature drained completely of life merely added to the character's theme.

The cut that was made horizontally across the ascendant's neck began to burn over, as it fully regenerated, leaving only a scar behind across his throat.

He wields a name… a name that marked the world's end from past to present.

 **Jaune Arc** had returned to destroy Remnant.

* * *

 **Will see about submitting artwork soon for [ Jaune Arc ] due to inability to give proper mask description. - fanfictionPenguin**


	13. The Soldier Who Made A Promise

**The Knight remembered still. Those memories of childhood fantasy meadows of luscious grass and glowing flowers in the night sky; dotted by a constellation of stars and the full moon.**

 _ **Many years prior...**_

The child bearing ocean-blue eyes admired the stars, at one point. He lays upon the silky grass in the midst of the night as the calming breeze washes over him. Tranquility and peace washed over him like a calm tidal wave, causing his body to be at ease and settled with the soothing setting. Tall pine trees sit in the distance, and the crescent moon conquered the night. The back of his head rest warmly against the lap of a gowned woman in white, whose long blond hair was braided and laid over one shoulder. Flowers bred with multiple colors decorated her hair, and the woman's light green eyes set softly upon the face of her loving child.

 _"_ _Your dream is a beautiful thing to have,"_

His mother told him, smoothing her fingers across her child's forehead gently,

 _"_ _-so never stray from it, dear. For one day… you may become a hero."_

These words reached his ears, and Jaune let it stay to his heart. Perhaps his dream was truly beautiful, and that he should allow it to come to fruition, no matter what may happen in the future. One day, he found it to be his ambition, to become a true hero. The knight who slays the evil dragons, a soldier who dominates the wars to end violence.

What was wrong with trying to become a hero..?

The will to try and save others—defend the weak-defeat the evil?

Fire consumed the meadows they lay upon, swallowing them whole, the trees, and the flowers.

… what made it so tragic becoming one..?

 **|| J ||  
**

 ** _Three years after joining the Alliance…_**

"Jaune, I told you to stop fighting with other soldiers!" The red-head reprimanded with a scowl, dabbing cold water over the bruises on his face. The knight couldn't do anything else but hiss lightly at the sting, but it didn't defer her of her current objective.

"They were picking on the people weaker than them! It's their fault!" He retorted, almost glaring at the emerald-eyed Spartan, "I couldn't just stand there!"

A sigh left her lips as she took ahold of his cheeks and made him face her, eye-to-eye, "… I understand that it's hard letting things go when it comes to things like that. But first thing's first, Jaune."

He blinked.

"Take off your shirt."

His head perked up as concern etched across his face, "But I-!"

"No!" Pyrrha wagged a finger at him, burning holes into his face with her eyes, "No 'But's! I said take it off!"

It was expected to hear a whining groan from the blond as he took off his bloodied white silk t-shirt, allowing her to examine his thin muscular frame briefly to spot out the swollen areas, "I knew it, you should've said something about this!"

"What? Pyrrha, you've got to be kidding me…! I'm a knight, for dust's sake!" He threw his arms up, frowning, "I'm supposed to be use to this!"

"Beneath every piece of armor is a person though, Jaune."

Jaune tried to stand up from his bed, only to get pulled back by the back of his belt and was forcibly sprawled out across the bed on his back. Pyrrha's hand forced both of his wrists down above his head while she knelt down beside him on the pre-mentioned bed and took the bowl of cold water, dabbing the cloth in it and restarted on cooling the swelling. All he could do was grunt and whine every few seconds about how he was old enough to do it himself. Not that the champion trusted him with things like these anyhow.

What irked her the most were the scars and lacerations that remained as permanent marks on his body. Nevertheless,

It was a while ago that Jaune confronted a few other knights in the kingdom—said knights having been bullying and torturing poor families in the slums as a group. Even taking from them. It disgusted Jaune to a degree. He challenged all of them to a brawl—which naturally ended up in the situation Jaune's in right now with Pyrrha. He was aware that no matter how much he wrestled against Pyrrha, she'd always find some way to win. Was that her semblance?

"Are you calm yet?" The red-head asked him, and he internally claims that he's _always_ been calm.

"… Yeah." He muttered with frustration—until he bursted out laughing from fingers tickling his abs, "P-Pyrrha! Pyrrha! S-stop—hah!" A tear formed out the corners of his eyes as he couldn't prevent himself from laughing—somewhat recoiling from the bruising pain. He tried to roll up into a ball, curling his legs in and rolled left and right, only to remember that the champion was the one currently pinning him down.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_." She said with a grin, perking a brow at the trapped blond, "I was _sure_ I asked a question earlier."

"O-okay! Y-yes, I'm calm! S-stop please!"

Reluctantly, the warrior let go of him, her eyes carefully inspecting the blond for any further sudden motions while he sat upright. She grimaced at the sight of even more scars of Jaune's past remaining burned into his flesh. It was then that she spotted even more bruises and cuts and sighed, also dabbing cold water over the swellings.

"… and sorry." Jaune mumbled, his chin angled lower—as if he were a guilty puppy, "I keep having you do this for me when you'd rather be out there with your fans and friends."

There was a minor pause from the Amazonian, her lips curling from a neutral line to a thin frown.

"I end up in more than one fight against people I don't like—where my ideals constantly clash with those who don't agree. That's what I feel like it is most of the time, I mean, heck, what if there's a chance that this could be the only reason why there's four kingdoms against one in this war?"

"Jaune…"

He clearly didn't hear her, given he had the opportunity to continue this rant of his, "There's so much I hate about this eversince I joined the Alliance, the people I have to work with, the lives that're lost on the battlefield—the thought that peace can be achieved through brutal and violent means." His breath hitched, his entire body doing the same as he cringed, "… what if what I'm doing right now means nothing for the future of others?"

"Jaune."

Jaune blinked, turning his head towards his current companion—who grabbed him by the cheeks to force him to face her. Cold, steel emerald eyes gazed into his with sheer focus, as he felt the leather of her gloves capturing his face. Their eyes met, and they remained only an arm's reach away from one another. The only thing that mattered at hand was what she was going to say to him.

" _Never_ … doubt yourself, and do what you think it's best for you. I may be idolized by all of the Alliance, but they have _never_ considered how I've felt about being the symbol of the people against the Empire of Ea." Her eyes softened, as if tearing up, "You came to me at that recruiting station while I tried to disguise myself as a commoner… and even when I took off my hood, you only recognized me for myself, and not as a champion that everyone admires me as."

This feeling of sharp stings shot through his chest, as his blue eyes winced and his teeth clenched, visibly shaking at the emotion she had expressed. Pyrrha continued.

"Jaune… I want you to know that…" There's a hesitant pause lingered between them, and she shakes her head, looking back to him after lowering her hands, "… that what you're doing. What you intend on doing through your actions. It isn't wrong—it's an admirable thing to desire and fight for. You're a hero inside, and I can feel it." Her hands presses softly against the center of his chest, feeling the roughness of it, " _I_ admire it." Pyrrha leaned forward, resting her forehead lightly against the blond's chest.

The knight didn't stop her or move her. She remained that way for a while before his arms had come up to hug her lightly, "Thank you, Pyrrha." His chin rested against the top of her head, ignoring the light _'eep!'_ sound that came out from the Amazonian. It was strange that he was reminded of the fires that set his home asunder… but it was gentler, daresay _friendlier_ in some manner. Warm. "You're the closest friend I've ever had. Please, let this last."

"O-of course, Jaune…" The champion mumbled from within his hold before lifting her head, her eyes trailing from his bare chest to his face, "W-we should get going though. You can't stay in your room all day without some duties being done—and I'm expected to go present for some of the important representatives from Vale, Vacuo and Atlas."

A light chuckle from the blond, "Hah, alright, Pyrrha." He let her go, shifting back and smiling towards her. It was pretty hard to tell if her smile was natural or not—since it looked wavy, and her face extremely reddened.

Was her breathing a little too rapid?

The red-head quickly made her way off the bed and grabbed the crimson mantle laying on his bed, wrapping it around her shoulder and tying the strings together while Jaune went ahead to throw on his black t-shirt, taking the Alliance military-issued sword and shield. It came naturally for him when it came to equipping these weapons—as these weren't normal weapons, per say. Alliance-levelled weapons weren't ever kept a normal standards due to the fact that an enemy can attack at any given time during this time of war.

His hands crushed the weapon and shield into dust that levitated in the air inanimately, waiting and watching as the particles began surrounding his body. Jaune kept his configurations for them to be casuals, since any other kind of format would've hindered his mobility, in his opinion. Brown, fingerless gloves formed over his hands from the dust wrapping around it.

"I suppose bracers and fancy jewelry for our weapon concealments are a _little_ too fancy." Pyrrha giggled, pulling the hoodie of the mantle up over her head, masking mostly her hair and head-piece.

The blond knight shrugged, "Eh, I just don't like flashy items. Tends to get you spotted out faster. Though, it's unfortunate that some people would rely on it for armor and a weapon at the same time. Won't people worry about getting cut if they have it out as a weapon—or if their armor breaks and they wouldn't be able to manifest their weapons afterwards?"

Pyrrha blinks, "What do you mean? Jaune, we have aura to compensate for most of our protection… but I suppose you're right. There are some fighters out there that do prefer the older types of weaponry, non-dust infused weapons that are capable of shifting into multiple forms—like cannons or other close-range types." She picks up Milo and Akouo, her signature shield and spear-hybrid.

It was Jaune's turn to seem confused briefly, but then shrugged it off and headed to his door, turning around to scan his room thoroughly. His room was like any old typical room. Bed, sink, separate toilet and shower room, closet, and so on. The Alliance—in times of war—provided sheltering for those who were a part of it. One could think of it like an apartment complex, but as a standalone house of sorts. The moment he opened the door leading outside, he was greeted by the sunlight and busy dirt streets, accompanied by grass and stalls.

Reflecting back on his current housing, it looked nothing more than a trailer, just compact and meant for one person to live in as a house and a room simultaneously. The champion stepped out the next, being certain to ensure that her hood would stay up. Her attention diverted between the populated area they were in—and Jaune.

"I'll be meeting up with my team soon before the next movement begins. We're expecting most of the strike squads to engage the front lines on Ea's shores, clearing out most of the way for the support squads. Hopefully we'll be able to set up quick camps and use them as checkpoints before continuing on further to the main enemy kingdom. You should get to your team too, Jaune."

"So they'll be sending us first, if that's the case."

A nod from his current companion, "Correct. So my squad and your squad will maybe cross over one another in the midst of the clearing. Given that we're deploying from Mistral, we'll be taking the eastern shores and close in on there with the rest of the Alliance from there."

An all-out attack? Jaune supposes he could make sense of it—though it was a relatively small continent. Last he recalled, despite the continent's size, it made up for it with all the minerals and resources it wielded, especially with how much dust it yielded underground. But it wasn't the most prettiest of places to be taking a vacation at. Especially given how it looked on a map, it was mostly known by a different alias: _'The Western Dragon'._ It was known to have unstable climates and rigid terrains, mostly composed of earthen spikes jutting out of the ground to be as tall as mountains and surface cracks that sometimes lead to massive ravines. Other than that, it did have a really large population count because of the businesses and corporations that were founded there. That was, until the Kingdom of Ea turned back on all four kingdoms and tried to become dependent through total monarchy.

The change came a surprise to most kingdoms, and it broke a treaty known as the _'Banner of Peace'_. It practically put it out on a playing board that all kingdoms were to be at peace with one another and settle usual war-breaking discussions through means of checks-and-balances. The first to suffer was Vale, who was hit from its docks from a surprise attack from Ea's cruiser fleet and resulted in a loss of its land temporarily from the raging war. It took several hours for the Alliance to get into contact with one another and repel Ea's forces successfully—but it took several months due to how advanced Ea had gotten over the passing years beneath the Council's noses—the group that represented for all kingdoms.

The Council presently housed four representatives now, one from each kingdom, and Ea's having been shunned due to the random waging of war. The type of technologies they had were automated machines they called _'Spectral'_ , due to how they were practically unmanned walking sets of armor that were powered by complex dust circuits. The first conflict with them were terrifying—war machines that practically displayed no sense of remorse and did everything like a human would, but without a single hint of deterioration in energy and strength.

Jaune's first encounter with one felt as if it were just like any other, as if he trained specifically for it. His skills and prowess against them in the first wave didn't go unnoticed though. When he entered the war, it took at least several weeks for higher-ups to begin noticing him for his combat power, in which some officers of the Alliance were eager to have Jaune lead a strike team of his own and awarded him with countless medals in brave fronts put against the enemy forces.

Though… it brought misfortune upon him as well, as other soldiers would begin shunning him, giving him the glaring eyes, and messages of hatred by how fast he had advanced in such a short matter of time. Most were even jealous or angered by the mere fact that Jaune had been the individual who had been the closest with the Alliance's dedicated champion, Pyrrha Nikos, the red-haired Amazonian he was currently talking to, in a matter of _days._ _(In which many claim it to be a blessing, it seems.)_

Speaking of which,

"Got it. Thanks for letting me know, Pyrrha. Though, aren't we stopping by Vale first to get to Vacuo and join forces with them? Wouldn't we end up seeing each other again down the road?"

Pyrrha took a pause before she decided to take off, almost seeming shocked that she had forgotten that piece of detail, "Ah! Yes, that's correct!" She gave off a small laugh, "I entirely forgot. Sorry, Jaune. Look for me at Vale's town hall when you get there. I'd like to go out somewhere with you before we attack Ea."

"Sure." He laughed in return, grinning sheepishly, "I'll catch you later." Jaune rose his hand to send off a light wave, watching as the Amazonian started to take off and wave back with a reciprocated smile.

"It's a date then! See you soon!"

And just like that, she was gone.

… what did she mean _'It's a date'_? Like, she's waiting for that specific day or something..?

Sigh. Jaune would never understand.

As he stood there at his front door, he turned his head slightly to overhear a hastily walking group that wandered off to the side and away from his view. He knew what he heard though…

 _'_ _Monster.'_

 _'_ _Bastard.'_

 _'_ _Trash.'_

… these kinds of things were daily though, and he hadn't the time to dedicate to rectifying it.

 **|| A || **

The airships weren't supposed to take off until several hours from when he arrived at the docks. His team was already let off until they needed to arrive on time for the ship to depart. Most of the people around were soldiers that were waiting to leave as well—but it became apparent to him that everyone wanted to keep a distance from him. There wasn't even a single individual within 10 feet of him. Some walked away and gave him dagger-like eyes. His loneliness wasn't shattered until someone shouted something in the background—causing everyone within the docks to stop and turn head like prairie dogs towards the source.

All heads followed the tall—bulky and muscular man with no top but a biker vest and some type of bird on the back of it. Their black cargo pants was filled with countless gadgets and sheathed daggers that Jaune couldn't understand for any reason at all, "So I hear you're the scrub who's showin' off moves and takin' people's shows, and now you decide you wanna pop up here and make your face visible? Bad mistake."

Jaune stared idly at the tall character. They had light-brown hair that was waved back with a rugged face sculpturing, and it was most likely presumable that the golden gauntlets he had were the format his dust-woven weapons were set to. As the man stood there intimidatingly, it was easily noticeable as to how a crowd began to form around them like hound dogs. The only four individuals that came with this bulky character was three armored humans who had golden apparel of their own in different distinctive forms. The fourth was a Faunus, a rabbit-eared, black-haired girl who was dressed in a maid costume and chained around the neck. The other end of the chain being held by the bigger man of the group—the one with the bird symbol on his back.

"Do I know you?" The blond knight inquired, crossing his arms and craning his neck to look up at him.

"You _should_. I'm part of the big names 'round here, you, _you_ , you've been making big news around the Alliance. It's time to take claim of them though, all of us know you're pretty much nothin' but fake news. So I'll beat you down, show 'em how weak you really are, and you've got the walk of shame throughout all the kingdoms to go through." The giant yanked his chain forward, causing the Faunus to _'eep!'_ loudly and limp forward with a club in both hands.

The azure eyes traced from the despairing Faunus to the giant, and not a single change of his expression was made. Until he grinned that is.

"Oh, is that so? Fine then, I'll make you a deal you can't refuse."

A brief laugh from the group, as the giant continued the conversation, "What's that then? I'll play your little game."

"I'll claim your slave as mine if I beat you. If not, you can harass me, beat me to death, and do whatever you wish if you win. I promise to use a wooden sword if you want." The blond perked a brow and smiled even further. And to his prediction, the bait worked.

"Deal. Where's this wooden sword of yours, chump?"

"Hold up!" Someone called from within the spectating crowd, "I got this!"

A small explosion erupted in the back—followed by a small, brief, cough, "T-told you I had it..! Catch!"

A whirling of wind being slashed around allowed the blond to figure the direction of the oncoming weapon, raising his hand and catching it with ease as he inspected the wooden object. It was pretty simple, not too complex. Ideally, this is what Jaune actually favored. The knight turned his head towards the direction of where the sword had come from and waved, "I owe you one!"

There wasn't even a single warning as the giant brought down his club upon Jaune's head.

The ground shook, and the crowd roared in surprise and cheer at the sight of dust being shot up into the sky on impact. Almost everyone within the crowd were cheering on for more of the fight to continue—most were cheering by how the blond took an unsuspecting hit, and easily assumed that he was finished in that single strike.

All were smiling except two individuals. The Faunus, and the giant.

The only reason why the giant wasn't was because of the sight of a blond having halted his attack completely with the edge of the wooden weapon. When the dust cleared up, it came as a shock to the rest of the crowd as well.

"Looks like I hit the wrong thing." Jaune said plainly, as on cue, the chains the giant had ahold of to secure the Faunus were snapped in halves. The giant was left pondering one thing: He cut an iron chain with _just_ a wooden sword? It sounded ridiculous and absurd—even _he_ couldn't snap the chain in half no matter what he did. Raw strength, his club, and even heavy swords. Nothing was capable of breaking that chain.

But this? This changed everything.

Cracks paved way alongside the club to his defeat as Jaune glared at the giant with a single menacing eye that glinted with malicious intent, "I _win_ , Pecker."

It took a single motion for Jaune to phase the wooden sword right through the club and connected it straight into the giant's neck, rendering them unconscious and falling over to the ground. A second's worth of a delay, and the club was smashed into splinters, littering the ground. The Faunus seemed mortified by what she had just witnessed, glancing towards the direction of the blond and noticed that he was only a step away from her. In surprise, her shoulders spiked up from the recoil and—

The chain around her neck fell to the floor in pieces after Jaune swung the wooden sword across her throat—swearing that he had just killed her, but didn't. When she noticed the shattered chains, she returned her attention to the blond, who placed a pouch into her hand and smiled, "Take this and get your freedom. Live your life in peace and joy." He whispered to her as he pushed her off to the side clearing, where no one had stood.

It was that moment when one of the giant's companions feigned fear and pointed an accusing finger towards the blond knight, "M-murderer! Cheater! S-someone—anyone! Apprehend this cheat!"

Everyone seemed convinced in that moment when realization dawned on them what that had practically meant, even though some were checking if the giant was actually dead or not and shouted that he was unconscious—but the crowd ignored it and quickly closed in on the blond with weapons drawn.

Looking to the crowd, Jaune couldn't help but sigh again.

Why does this always happen to him?

 **|| U ||**

So here Jaune sat—where he was supposed to be. In _Vale_.

He just didn't imagine it to be in a cell, locked behind bars and kept confined until someone had come out to get him. Specifically, someone that was from his team. After the little incident with Pecker and his team of mischief, the crowd grabbed him and tossed him into the airship's confinement room—which was practically the storage pit with all the luggage and locked down one side with him in. Naturally, Jaune didn't fight back. He was going where he needed to go.

"To think I'd have to find you _here_." Said the short woman with hair that had been dyed like fire. The woman's hair lengthed down to the back of her waistline, straight and silky. Her eyes were no different, yielding irises that ran a constant motion picture within that was apparent to be flames. She dons a black crop top with a black jacket over it with the zipper halfway down, revealing the interior of the jacket to be a bright orange. In addition to her apparel, she didn't seem too shy about wearing black shorts being a tad shorter than usual shorts—in the strangest mixture of white gloves and mid-leg high white combat boots.

Accompanying her was a much taller character, with blue hair and darker skin. He didn't really wield as much hair as she did—it was actually much shorter with a high-and-tight fade. Rectangular glasses were placed over his dark hazel irises, having to readjust the collar that was a part of his blue sage robes. To his side, a thick-paged book with thin metal frames, and foreign words written over the front cover of it.

"Good to see you too, Amara." Jaune sent a nod to the fiery-haired woman, who simply sighed in return. The next was addressed to the sagely-robed man, "You as well, Shen. Sorry for bringing you guys here to get me out… I ran into-"

"Pecker. We're aware of his reputation with the Alliance." The robe-dressed sage stated, his eyes refusing to leave off from Jaune, "He's rather dull and brutish, we can't blame you for that. Any person who wields discrimination against you would have some kind of tendency to try and get on your level."

"Yep. You should've kept us around—we would've had your back in a jippy." Said Amara, who rested her fists against her hips while watching some guards pass by and unlock the cell door. By the time it opened, the blond stepped out to briefly hug the two and laughed.

"Thanks, guys. I really owe you guys." He stepped back to see the unphased sage and blushing fire-girl. Jaune didn't notice how red Amara had looked about then, "I'll make it up to you two."

"You're our leader, Jaune. You needn't." Shen shook his head and held an open hand over his chest, "It is my duty to serve alongside you, and I will serve as long as I can to aid you."

"Y-yeah, Jaune." Amara calmed herself down a bit, "We're in this war together now as a team. You're assigned leader for a reason—even if you do have a few fist fights here and there." Jaune had a feeling the fiery-themed girl sounded disappointed, "Seriously, we're in Vale, and we should enjoy our time here before we're fully deployed onto Ea's shores."

A chuckle from the blond knight, "You're right." He started to turn and make his way out of the corridor, ignoring the glaring eyes of the guards around them that were primarily focused on his head. Jaune continued on without interruption, stepping onto the streets of Vale with his team. As the team had looked about, Jaune's memory had sparked, causing his head to recoil back. Not only his, but his other two comrades as well, as their heads recoiled back with slight surprise, "Oh, I forgot I was supposed to look for Pyrrha when we got here…"

Shen seemed somewhat disturbed by that name, "One of the reasons why you are constantly getting into conflicts with others is because of your reputation with the champion of the Alliance, Jaune. It is dangerous if you intend on treading into a deeper relationship with her."

A sigh from the fire-haired girl, "Leave it, Shen. We should let Jaune hang out with who he wants, and if people wanna try and stop him, let 'em. Jaune's never had a problem handling anyone trying to pester him." She smirks towards the resident knight, "Isn't that right, Jaune?"

"Pft—yeah, I guess I never had. I'll see you guys around—thanks for your help earlier."

"No problem!" Beamed the fiery girl, "We'll be at the school further west—me and Shen decided to visit some of the kids there to play around."

Both bowed to Jaune slightly, soon taking their leave together to venture the city-kingdom of Vale. As Jaune waved them off, he grinned at the back of their heads and recalled the times he's had to rely on them for almost everything that was dealing with the Alliance's local societies. They always did have his back, now that he thought about it…

The knight gave a brief scan of his environment, seeing nothing but taller buildings and countless streets.

 _Well,_ that's one start.

Jaune stepped off to look around for _some_ kind of directory… this city's definitely gotta have one laying about.

This is going to be an issue though, given that this is _Jaune_ we're talking about. He's _bound_ to find it… if you give him several years.

Ironically enough, it only took him an hour to find the massive court-house like building that had been labelled as _'Town Hall'_. The knight perked a brow. _'Why do they need a building_ _ **this**_ _big?'_ He thought to himself as he strolled in and looked at all the Faunus workers running about and Humans sitting at the desks. Inside, the Town Hall was comprised of countless office desks and multitudes of people who worked constantly without any seeable end. There were even stacks of papers that towered over the wall-dividers splitting desk area from desk area.

Most likely, eversince the war began, paperwork load had increased drastically to account for preparations and what was most likely for the future. Now we wonder if people get PTSD just from doing all this after a few days.

"Jaune!" A voice called out to him from further ahead, and several people stopped their actions to recognize the famed owner of the voice. When she had come into view, Jaune's eyes recognized the individual, who walked towards him. It almost looked as if she were walking on a red carpet that was laid out for her with silent people from left and right awkwardly staring at her in a way they were completely idolizing her.

She was awkwardly smiling at him, with both arms behind her back and hands folded together. She seemed the same as always—but this time, she just went on without her mantle, which was what she usually used to hide herself from public eyes. Pyrrha stopped a step away from him, her head craned to look up at the taller character with a gleeful smile, "Thank you for coming, Jaune. Are you ready to head out?"

It took him a minute to even realize she was talking to him from the mystical effect she had somehow induced on the surrounding environment, "H-huh? Y-yeah, I'm ready to head out." He returned the awkward smile sheepishly, "Are _you_ ready?" One brow perked higher than the other towards her, and all she did was laugh back at him and take ahold of his hand to head out of the Town Hall with him.

"Of course I'm ready, Jaune. I've been waiting for you for a while."

 **|| N || **

To say that it wasn't _incredibly_ awkward to walk around the city openly with the champion… was possibly the wrong answer.

In their time of being together, the red-head and blond walked around the city and visited multiple stores and viewed many historical monuments. There wasn't a single instance where there wouldn't have been someone screaming out Pyrrha's name or title out loud and attracted a crowd, or people who were glaring and hunting Jaune down like hound dogs—fortunately Jaune knew his emergency escape routes to drag Pyrrha through when she was about to get pushed into that pit. Though, that's where most of the fun might've been, just the adrenaline of running and escaping from fanatic fans and angry mobsters hunting for Jaune's head for being _near_ 'their' champion.

The Amazonian laughed softly as they walked along the lakeside, having a casual talk with the blond and enjoying the view of the forestry around them. At this particular season, the red-leaved trees with darker bark made it a spectacular side of nature to see. The crimson leaves blew right past them, and the bright red grass beneath them flowed harmoniously.

"I heard you had an encounter with Pecker, Jaune. Are you okay?" Asked the Spartan with genuine concern, her hand rested on his arm as the jade eyes made contact with his sapphires. The blond knight simply chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah, I'm fine, Pyrrha. He really wasn't all that bad… it's just…" His head drooped, his expression shifting from the typically go-happy blond to a smile that… was merely a _lie_ to himself—and those how knew him well.

"I… wanted to join the Alliance to help and save people, but the more I try to do it, there's people who just don't accept it—even after I've saved them. Sometimes, I just feel powerless from stopping deaths I could've prevented. I turn around, and I see Faunus slavery and people who abuse them. Or people who're just deprived of happiness and life."

The champion of the Alliance set a saddened gaze upon him, as she recalled this certain conversation with him prior to leaving Mistral. When her hand slid down from his arm, she took hold of his hand and caused him to send a confused glance towards her as they walked along. What he saw on her face, was a smile of someone who understood, "We all have those moments."

Pyrrha stood by his side for those three years since he's first met her. Even if they weren't on the same strike steam, she was always there. Her team members wouldn't accept it, but she shoved them out of the way in order to help him. She'd even risk her reputation just to even _stand_ next to him.

"I could have saved a lot more people too, if it weren't for my status as a champion. Maybe I could've even hated for being stronger than everyone else if I didn't walk the same path I am now. But I'm glad… that this path of my life led me to you, Jaune. Just as you're the spark of light in my life, you'll eventually find your own, sooner or later." The red-head gazes at the dawning sun afar.

"Pyrrha…" He muttered in awe, then turning his sight to the same view she shared. Feeling the warm embrace around his hand, he tightened his grip to secure their hold of hands and grinned softly, "… Thanks."

The Spartan nods, "I will _always_ be right beside you when I can, Jaune…"

…

Both of them turn to look at each other, eyeing each other's expressions carefully.

What they heard now… was nothing but the booming sounds in the distance, as they then turn their heads to the western direction.

"… _No_." The blond's eyes widened as he saw the explosions in the distance, "My teammates are there, I _have_ to get to them! Pyrrha, can you grab your gear and team and meet me at the school house near there?!"

The champion retained her calm demeanor, nodding with her eyes trained on the sight of the explosion, "I can! I'll run to you as fast as I can with help!" Her hand tightened over his briefly, forcing them to make eye-contact again as the two nod in acknowledgement, "Be careful, Jaune."

"I will." Their hands let go of one another as they split ways towards the west, as Pyrrha headed straight for the barracks—Jaune for the school house…

 _'_ _Shen, Amara, please be alive when I get there!'_ He rushed through the forestry and onto the streets—where he was instantly met with a screaming crowd of people who were running away from the site of the explosion. There were other soldiers in the area who had their weapons at the ready as they ran the same direction as him. His blue eyes scanned ahead further down the streets to see the black fog that was consuming the streets of Vale, and within it, dark violet sets of orbs glowing brightly enough to be visible within.

As each soldier halted, the glowing orbs came closer progressively, as heavy clunks of metallic armor came out of the dark fog to reveal the black-armored 'knights' that walked inhumanely towards them. Within each gap of armor, there didn't even seem to be a single hint of flesh or clothing beneath. Were these..?

 _'_ _Eons. The inanimate soldiers of Ea.'_ Jaune thought to himself as he grit his teeth. How did the Alliance not see an oncoming attack from Ea?

He watched as multiple Alliance troops rushed forward to confront the enemy. The skill level of every individual and Eon almost matched on par with one another. But this differed greatly from the blond, who rushed forward to vault over one Eon's blade and behind to trip the walking armor prior to grabbing its ankles and slamming it into another set of lifeless armor.

 _Jaune didn't have time for this_.

The knight needed to get to his teammates, _now_. That's all that mattered right now.

Dashing into the dark fog, the blond searched for the school house to find it half-destroyed, occupied by an Eon searching through the debris and taking an unconscious girl that was buried beneath it. They were hauling the child over their shoulder and carrying them back to the direction of the docks— _they were kidnapping the children?_

His teeth grinded together as his sword formed from his glove, charging towards the unsuspecting armor and forced his blade to phase right through its torso, watching it decompose in an instant as the child began falling. Jaune caught the kid quickly before he could impact the ground and set him down safely before looking at what he could to search for others in the remains of the school house, "Shen, Amara! Answer me!"

What he heard was a sign of relief, as several masculine coughs came out from further inside, "We're here! Jaune, we must evacuate these children out of here!" Shouted Shen, who stepped out after pushing aside some fallen ceiling beams with Amara right beside him, whisking some of the rising debris out of the air. Behind them was a class of children, who seemed more than scared and cowered behind Amara.

The knight sighed in relief and made his way towards them with the unconscious girl on his shoulder, "Agree! We'll have to clear the way and bring them to one of the Alliance's checkpoints!"

Amara remained deafly silent as her eyes widened at him—and not only her, but the children and Shen were as well. As Jaune frowned and stood there, he began to realize… _they weren't looking directly at him._

Turning around, Jaune watched the dark fog around them dissipate for a clearer view of what was around them…

… and standing there was an army of Eons with their weapons and guns aimed at them.

 **|| E || **

"Sir, we've found a hotspot of Eons standing at the school grounds, they're currently surrounding Jaune and his strike team—along with several children. Should we send in reinforcements as quickly as possible?" Asked the operator, who sat at the monitor and oversaw the image of the ruined school grounds. They could see Jaune, Amara, Shen, and the children standing in the center of what looked to be hundreds of Eons gathered around them like ants circling around a piece of treat dropped on the dirt.

"…" Standing behind the operator was a general, who wore four diamonds on his shoulder, his uniform crisp of white and black with ribbons racked on the left-side of his chest, and medals stacked over the right-side of his chest. He almost looked deathly pale, but had a muscular build to him, as his gray hair was neatly trimmed and waved back. As the general stood there and watched, his eyes narrowed upon the sight of the blond knight and sighed, shaking his head, "I am not risking losing more soldiers to the Eons. If they're all gathered there, then a sacrifice is needed for the better good of the war, operator."

"… Sir?" The operator turned around with confusion and slight horror as their jaw slightly dropped. They didn't know if they were hearing this right at all.

"Call in a mortar strike on everything in the vicinity of the school ground and inform the support teams that it's occupied completely by Eons."

"S-sir..?! Y-you'll end up killing the strike team and the children that're still-"

"I'm **_ordering_** you, operator. More people will die if we let this change go." The general _glared_ at the operator—who was visibly shaken at this point. A hesitant nod left the operator as they turn around to activate the comms system on the monitor, "A-all mortar support teams, coordinates have been distributed for mortar drop, on command, all teams fire at once. T-this is an enemy… occupied hotspot…" The operator's voice wavered as they spoke to the commanding officer, "… G-general… on your orders."

The general set his eyes upon the blond again, as his eyes narrowed, _'We will see where fate places you, demon.'_

 **"** **... Fire."**


	14. The Soldier Who Lost His Way

**The knight forgot what it was like to be saved.**

Something that was cherishing?

Something that made so many cry by the sole act of what it was?

Or was it something that made people have wars amongst each other in the first place?

The pure act and action of the word _'save'_ came in many violent and pacifistic methods.

You could want to save people— _by killing people who were aiming to kill them first._

You could want to save people— _by reaching out to them and keeping them from killing themselves, or others._

Neither action is wrong, you could never be wrong for something you thought was right. Morally, scientifically, confidently.

 _"_ _As long as you're confident, you can never be wrong."_ Said a man from many years ago, who spoke to his 8 year old son as they were playing with a set of blocks and toys.

 _"_ _Be happy with what you do, and never let it be stripped away from you if that is what you truly want, Jaune. If the times are rough, then endure it. Endure it until you can fulfill your dream, son."_

How many times did this need to repeat in his head..?

This dialogue of motivation and encouragement. It was nostalgic.

It never helped though.

 **|| D ||**

A 13 year old version of Jaune stood there. His face was matted with blood, and his body was covered in mixtures of the same blood and mud. In his hand, a dagger that was strung together unprofessionally with simple fiber rope, sharp stone and wood. That too was covered in red.

Before Jaune had joined the Alliance and became a soldier, he was a survivor, and before that, he was a son.

In his time he was a survivor, there were things that needed to be done and things that made him hate his own being. It came bitter and sour like some kind of devil's smile washing over him.

There laid two bodies in front of him in the middle of the wilderness, and most likely, the Grimm were bound to come flooding the site from the odor emitting from it. Stab wounds punctured through their throats and chests, and wide lifeless eyes stared at the sky.

He had to kill them.

Or else they would have killed him.

The two corpses were children that were either his age or less, with rusted swords that stabbed into the ground. Their scavenged belongings were scattered across the ground and most of it already salvaged into what Jaune could consider his backpack if it wasn't for its terribly worn-down condition already.

The boy wasn't a stranger to this.

He doubted they were a stranger to it either.

Jaune's eyes trailed from their corpses and to the sky, and wanted to know if there was a way to ever escape that hell. What trekked down his cheeks was tears that represented all his yearnings and his will, but his body never gave up. So with clenched fists, the boy turned around and walked away before the Grimm would flood the area for the bodies that had been left behind.

He blinks—the world around him changes from a quiet forest to a battle-torn field.

Jaune now stood in front of the mound of corpses, his expression fallen ill of any other kind of emotion. His dull eyes failed to whisper a cry. In the blond's hand, a sword that was snapped in half. The other half of it was most likely buried somewhere in the heaps of flesh.

It varied from men, it varied from women, it varied from children.

A graveyard that consisted of no stones.

Grimm corpses littered the field and weapons scattered about.

He wasn't wrong.

They weren't wrong.

He had to kill them.

Or else they would have killed him.

The rain that pours on him shared no sympathy, Jaune didn't expect any from it anyhow. Most likely Grimm would come by to pick at the corpses, or bandits and looters will come by to pick what they'd like out of the selection he involuntarily made for them.

Jaune couldn't save these people—and neither could he save himself. A straying route that led him away from being what he once wanted to be.

People died when the Grimm came for them.

People died when people with weapons came for them.

People died when he had to try and save himself, but was powerless to do anything else.

So when he came to the waters that would give him the answer of whether or not he wanted to live or die, he spoke to a man who questioned his existence. Eventually, that man led him to recover from these memories, and offered him a chance at power.

The two had set out in their own journey, and visited a village one time.

A village where violence had never struck, and the balance of struggling and achieving was equal to one another.

Jaune watched as a daughter ran up to her father and hugged him—and the father would hug her back in return before lifting her onto his shoulder. The mother joined their side with knitting equipment, as well as their son, who held a basket of fruits and vegetables. They all talked to one another with smiles on their faces. They had no tension around them, no desire for blood, no reason to have weapons. The life around them prospers, as well as the rest of the village did with them.

"Friends are beautiful. Nature is beautiful. Life is beautiful." Said his master, who had just returned from inside the shop and held food out for Jaune to take and eat.

The younger blond looked up to them, and saw the light smile that was etched across their lips, "Therefore; your ambition to save people isn't wrong."

…

What ever did happen to that dream?

 **|| R ||**

 ** _In present time…_**

"We have to get to the tower, Oz' must still be up there, possibly fighting with the enemy commander leading all this!"

The Branwen gave his scythe a swing, cutting one of the Ursai into halves. It didn't stop his momentum of continuous movement, and the same applied to the Schnee beside him, who casted out multitudes of sky-blue sparrows outward to distract the Grimm and White Fang.

"I'll be right behind you! We have to be careful though, there's no telling how strong they are, and that they've got a Wyvern up there!"

Qrow's crimson eyes squinted to the top of the tower—where the top-part of the tower was easily picked out to be because the roof was entirely severed and fallen off from its base. It was clearly the work of the Grimm Wyvern that had flown overhead earlier and was siding with the enemy forces, "As much as I don't have a plan yet, we'll think of one when we-!"

The two came to the top of a pile of rubble, where the flames had already taken claim to them.

"Qrow!" Winter screamed his name, forcing him out of his thoughts and speech to get his attention.

He instantly knew why too.

Winter's eyes were wide with fear—and her body shook violently, just like his did. The air was stale and cold—despite the fires that burned around them. Not a sound was a produced. Not a single movement was made in that entire courtyard they stumbled across.

The courtyard only had two people present—if you were to exclude the bodies that spotted across the field. A Faunus with red hair and an infamous symbol etched across his back, a revolutionary leader of the White Fang. The other, an unidentifiable character that neither two had ever seen before. The presence that exudes from them was nothing comparable to any sign of light, and at the same time, little to nothing with darkness.

Winter didn't take notice of how Qrow was reacting to this, and the only thing that she could do was watch. The intimidation there was in the area was strong—strong to a point that anyone who broke this ancient silence would die in an instant. You would have to be dedicated to stepping on a landmine out in the plain view after dozens of warning signs screaming at you about that one landmine.

The Branwen's hand clenched tightly around the scythe. His eyes were primed on the godly figure, and not Adam Taurus—the terrorist that was leading the White Fang into attacking Beacon. The crimson red eyes shrunk, unable to remain still when looking at them. What he felt inside…

… he felt rage.

Rage that filled to the point that it was just streaming off the rim of an imaginary jar.

It didn't translate fast enough for Winter to stop him—as the moment he had taken off, she was still too shocked and afraid to do anything concerning both Adam Taurus and the other. Her hand reached out for the hunter that leapt straight for the unnamed character with a scythe raised into the air and teeth gritted together. The icy-blue eyes gazed at the side of Qrow's head as he charged in while crying out, as she saw something in him that she had never thought she'd see so soon.

Anger.

She read the anger that was in his eyes—the bloodlust that became so evident that it hurt to see it. Reaching out to him wouldn't change anything—he was already out of her arm's reach. The Branwen travelled across the air so fast toward them. If he died, what would she do now?

What made him so angry..?

All that she could do was call for him, and break the rule that conquered the courtyard.

"Qrow!"

From through their hollow mask, the character shrouded in malignance turned their head by slight, revealing the iris of two golden crescents. They began to glow from within the mask—and Qrow roared out loud as he brought his scythe down upon the knight's head.

In an instant, they were gone, and Qrow's expression transitioned into a moment's pause of realization.

His eyes looked to the corner of his peripherals to see that—making only a single step—the god-like knight had already walked around him and was headed straight towards the tower. There wasn't a single sign of them paying any mind of the passing hunter that was just trying to kill it…

A single glance was spared to him—and all he saw was the golden crescents in their eye.

Ozpin's voice echoed within his head.

 _"_ _It's an insignia used by a certain family very long ago. I'm certain that there's no books that covers this insignia at all—and the only reason why I remember it is because I've stumbled across it on my travels."_

 _The raven-haired hunter picked up the tablet with two roughly carved-in crescents. Both had their ends face downwards, as the top one was bigger than the bottom one. Qrow rose a brow to the headmaster, "Okay? So? I'm sure there's other insignias out there that're gone by now."_

 _He felt the tablet leave his hands as the gray-haired man took it back carefully, "This symbol use to belong to a family known as the 'Arcs'. While they are unknown to the world—and no longer around—they hold a significant standing on the foundation of knowledge concerning aura. The founders of aura, the forefathers, and more specifically… the 'Architects'."_

 _Qrow dropped his flask, watching it hit the ground and bounce further away from him than he thought it would. With a grunt, the hunter walked over to it to pick it up, slightly disturbed by the title mentioned._

 _"_ _You're saying they were a family of gods who literally had the capability of bending Remnant entirely?"_

 _"_ _That is, before they were slaughtered, and their records were erased from the face of Remnant."_

 _Qrow's foot kicked the flask further away from him on accident. He rolls his eyes and forgets about picking it up, standing upright and leaned against the pillar behind him with arms crossed, "… What happened?"_

 _"_ _The Arcs had secrets about aura and how much they could do with it that could've made them all Architects. Powerful methods of healing, methods of mass destruction, capability to fabricate anything from aura in one's imagination… One side of the world fell concerned that they could've become too powerful for anyone to control, and feared them enough that it warranted half of the world to hunt them down and slaughter them. The other half of the world remained neutral about it, and only became focused in using aura to develop machines that utilized aura as an alternative source of energy."_

 _"_ _So they were killed and erased by the time half of the world got around it."_

 _A nod from the headmaster confirmed his suspicion, "While they also tried to find out what the Arcs knew of aura, they found nothing, and ultimately failed at what their primary objective was that the Arcs could have potentially known. What was rumored back then was that they had passed on all their knowledge to other people that they could place faith and trust in for the better of humanity, and predicted that they would die at a certain time and accepted it. Thus, creating the three natural Architects: Sun, Nature and Sea."_

 _"_ _Huh. That's… impressive."_

 _"_ _Agreed." Ozpin set the tablet down on his desk and sat down in his chair, "They were wiped from existence from multiple families wanting to take credit for being the founders, when in all actuality, they never dealt with anything that followed aura, and ceased any future advancement in aura entirely."_

 _The Branwen finally went over to pick up his flask and slide it into one of his pockets, "Sad story, definitely a lot of corrupt people in the past then. Not that it's any different than it is now in our modern societies."_

 _"_ _I can only imagine how terrifying it would be to face an Arc now, if they were still around." A sigh left the man, shaking his head, "It is unfortunate that they died around the time I had turned 12 the first time. They would've been the most knowledgeable in aura, even surpassing our current studies and knowledge of it."_

 _"_ _Pft." The raven-haired hunter sat down on a chair across from Ozpin's desk, leaning back in a relaxed manner, "If you could describe how you'd think facing them would be like in one word, what would you say?"_

Qrow felt his entire body burn—as if he were being burned alive entirely. For every second he spent near his enemy, every bit of his soul was being chipped away by a hammer and nail. A pounding force relentlessly beat against his brain, and nausea fell over him. By the time his feet met the ground from the leap he made, his knees met the ground instantaneously, and soon the rest of his body. He was sprawled out across the ground on his front, cold and numb from some unknown agonizing pain that tore away his insides. His breath immediately drew out from his lungs. All of his oxygen, drained.

 _"…"_ _Ozpin's dull eyes stared into the crimson ones. An expression of professionalism and seriousness emitting from his very person._

 _"_ _ **Death**_ _."_

"QROW!" Winter landed right beside him, flipping him over onto his back as he hunched over and groaned. He was panting heavily—despite not being touched at all. He saw the tears that left her eyes and dripped onto his face. They felt cold, and she looked as if she were about to lose someone close to her. Qrow felt a cold—but tolerable—hand lift the back of his head up, and another over his hand while being elevated slightly from the ground.

"Qrow… Qrow, please talk to me…" She desperately tried to get an answer out of him as she shook him, unable to tell if he was still alive from the unfocused look in his eyes, "Say something, anything."

She was… panicking?

That was something he wasn't use to seeing from her. His hand twitched, causing her to feel it from her own. Winter begun to smile in relief as she held onto his hand tightly, "Oh dust… you're alive." The Schnee rested her forehead against his, regardless of the close contact. She felt so happy that he was responsive.

"I thought… I thought you died." He heard her sniff from restraining her tears, and he let the warmth of their foreheads touching linger for a bit longer. His eyes closed as he breathed out.

"… I'm okay, Winter. Don't worry about this drunk bird dying anytime soon." His voice was hoarse and low, which was enough to soothe her into relaxation, "My body's numb… it feels like I've been through hell… but I'm still here." He managed to bring a hand up to let it rest against the side of her bare neck, in which she held gingerly there with her own hand over his.

They stayed such way for a minute for Qrow to regain his bearings.

Adam Taurus fled the area.

The Crescent-eyed foe left for the tower…

The specialist helped Qrow up on his feet after making sure he was alright. Awkwardly, they stared at each other and then looked away at the same time. The Schnee rubbed the back of her head, and the Branwen running a hand through his hair.

Qrow frowned and looked toward the direction of the tower, "If that thing's going to the top of the tower… Ozpin's in more danger than he's ever been. We need to get up there. Fast. I'd get up there on my own, but…" He gazes over his arms, his entire body feeling frail currently, "… I'm still a little weak from that counter he imposed on me."

"Qrow…" A hand rests against his arm, in which he turned around to glance at her, "What… what made you so angry for you to attack it?"

She sounded strained and concerned, and judging by the dagger-like look in her eyes, she wasn't very happy of his earlier decision. All he could manage for now to stray from wasting time was sigh and shake his head, replying with: "… I'm sorry, Winter. I have to tell you another time. It's… it's complicated."

Winter carefully read the pained expression he gave off and nodded, moving her hand away from his arm, "Okay. I trust you… and if we need to get up there urgently, I have a way to get up there."

Qrow rose a brow at her skeptically, already asking in gesture as to what her plan was.

She smirks, "I hope you hate Nevermores."

 **|| E ||**

Mercury watched as his entire leg was obliterated into pieces by an extended, armored fist that met with his foot.

What had gone wrong with Cinder's plan—what caused everything to go to hell so fast?!

Destroy Beacon and Vale, get the job done with the White Fang and ally with them, get out and put humanity through despair just as Cinder's plan had intended. Nothing was going wrong—everything was going smooth.

Then _this_ happened.

The gray-themed teen flew right past his intended target after his leg was destroyed, sliding across the ground and slamming into several toppled objects at the far-side of the platform. The ground was destroyed earlier in the event Mercury shattered half of the surface into pieces and let it fall with Ruby Rose and Jaune. Ruby Rose was the only one who managed to hang on after that.

But none of that mattered right now—all that mattered was the… _thing_ … that was standing in the middle of the floor.

Not too far from Mercury, Guriggen was kneeling over, leaning against a broken wall as support while his entire face was streaming blood from almost all of his pores. His eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Even bled beneath his skin just from being grabbed by the face.

Nothing helped that the Wyvern that was on their side was being _torn to pieces_ by the wyvern in gold armor and was… what? **_Ten times larger than theirs?!_** He had a hard time grasping where it even came from for no one to even notice it right in front of them in plain sight.

Cinder was breathing hard—and so was the multi-colored psycho that used a parasol as a weapon. Never did he think Cinder would be overwhelmed by someone.

But what they were up against… it wasn't a person—it couldn't be a person. It was literally untouchable in terms of four people trying to attack it all at once. The animosity that lingered in the air from this entity was potent enough that it could potentially kill an army of Ursai if they stepped into its range of attack. Not even that, it was more like a _range of certain death_.

The vibes that everyone had felt from this character scared them. Cinder, Neapolitan, Guriggen, him. This included Ruby Rose and Ozpin. No one knew who it was siding with, and no one knew what it was, or who it was. All that there needed to be known was that there was something significantly more dangerous than anyone on Beacon or in Vale altogether.

Death radiated from it—as if it were the embodiment of death. Like a thick miasma, no one needed to be able to see aura to tell that there was some kind of red-black fog that cursed the ground and air.

The ability to breath was difficult.

-The ability to divert focus away from the source was difficult.

The silver-haired teen grunted loudly as he had to drag himself across the ground to reach his cracked scroll, which had shattered when the desk broke and dropped it hard onto the floor. He pressed the button that called Roman, and he hoped to Oum that he brings a fast vertibird to escape from where they were.

From what he heard earlier, the headmaster of Beacon said that the larger dragon that recently appeared was Crocea Mors.

Honestly, Mercury didn't want to believe it until now. A dragon that was born inside the moon… for a legend to be true, he didn't think it'd be so _literal_.

If that was Crocea Mors though… then what's the person that's currently fighting all of them?

Crocea Mors, but in a humanoid form?

With no hope of finding an actual name for it, he's going to have to refer it as that from thereon. Cinder was unable to provide an answer, neither was the headmaster, who should've had more knowledge than any of them.

Mercury watched as Neo went in for a thrust at 'Crocea Mors'…

… they weren't going to survive this, were they?

 **|| A ||**

 ** _In another world…_**

The blond knight stared at the graves that sat in front of him. Of all the lives that were sacrificed in the war, he wondered what it would be like if they were back, just without him.

The reality that people die was too logical to the point that he'd be driven into insanity just to find himself happy for once in his entire life. The fake mask that he placed over his face as a satisfied human in Remnant, the false hopes he's been given time after time. How much was there that had to happen just for people to live?

His sight lifts from the graves to see the rest of the fifty or so graves that marked the plains.

This hollow person he is… and this hollow life he led. Was it worth it?

Jaune turned around and watched the reality around him break off from one side of the world to a completely different side of the world, where hundreds and thousands of people watched him stand at the top of a wooden scaffold, confined inside of a cage that was packed with fire dust in boxes around him. A single man aimed a pistol at one of the boxes, which can cause a chain reaction of the boxes to set the entire cage on fire with.

There was a soundless man who stood outside his cage, confronting the entire crowd and shouted at the entire audience as they all looked determined to see the execution through.

He wondered what made the world worth saving, in the end.

A dream that wasn't supported or accepted in this society would have gone wasted. People will die, and it continues on like an endless loop that repeats countlessly.

He closes his eyes and draws loose a silent breath.

When he opens them again, he sees the bodies that scatter across the street in the heavy rainfall. He was in the center of all of them, as weapons and armor pieces were all over the place. There were Faunus in rags who laid dead on the streets. There were humans in chipped armor that laid beaten to near-death on the streets.

Jaune didn't mind the pouring cold rain that fell upon him. All he cared about was saving those Faunus—but he failed to even save them.

He wanted to save people.

He wanted to save the Faunus from humans who despised them and hated them, discriminating and brutally discouraging.

But now, it meant trying to violently stop those who picked on the Faunus. An attempt that was disgusted by the human societies when someone would try to help a slave.

He closes his eyes and draws loose a silent breath.

When he opens them again, he walked tired of what repeated over and over again, as he treaded down the muddy stone paths of the encampment. His feet pushed through the muddy, murky water puddles.

Soldiers steered clear of his path, refusing to be anywhere near him, as he trudged toward the operations tent of the encampment. A broken flag of the enemy in his hand, but his entire body soiled with red, a stench he became accustomed to in war. Soldiers died in the fray, and all that came back was him.

The knight placed the flag on the table of the tent, as officers did nothing but watch as he walked away silently. He went back on the same path; and no words were given. Not words of encouragement, not words of praise, no acknowledgement of what he did in order to attain victory for them.

His allies died in place of him.

Something that he couldn't prevent again.

They were willing to die for him, and went too far from what Jaune wanted from them. They were the stepping stones to his advancement in the Alliance, heavily discouraged by others, even when it wasn't his fault that they died willingly.

That one saying: _'Only the fittest will survive'_ was a cruel thing.

And so, he closed his eyes and drew a silent breath.

When he opened his eyes again, there was a village that was prime with life and families that smiled at one another.

These flashbacks would never cease from repeating again and again.

Jaune watched as soldiers from the Alliance tore apart the village inside-out, forcefully taking family members from each other, taking food, animals, and happiness. When he drew his blade on all of them, it came as no surprise to him that he would have to return to the encampment by himself with guilt weighing on his shoulders.

He told them that they died from an enemy ambush that was scheduled on the village they were going to 'secure', and all of them turned away in dismay of the lives that were lost.

There were two sides of happiness that he could've secured.

But only being able to choose one of them ate away at him inside…

Who was he saving?

Jaune clenched his fists, as there were no words given to him by the same apparitions that burned into his mind. Not even the bodiless voice that once accompanied him. The anger that wanted to roar out from inside him couldn't be kept stable.

He was angry at the world around him for making him do what he thought was right.

He was angry at himself for accepting these decisions and executing them.

He was angry at… everything.

The aspiration to become a hero was gone—and the aspiration to save people was becoming dull.

… What purpose did he have now?

* * *

He grabbed the parasol by the offensive end, shattering it immediately into pieces and leaving the multi-colored girl reactionless as her momentum kept her body moving forward. In the midst of her blinking instinctively, all he felt was cracks emitting from her wrist as he grabbed it and hurled her up into the air. By the time she blinked, she was already slammed straight into the ground with a web of cracks beneath her and her aura shattering. The impact of it having been too strong and fast to the point that the entire tower shook violently in response.

Distorted voices echoed from the chambers of his mind, but he couldn't pay attention to it right now.

It felt like hell.

It was like hell.

His body was doing everything on its own, and his mind was acting solely on vengeance against _something_. Quite honestly, the knight had already forgotten a long time ago what it was like to have this kind of fury building up inside him.

He was reminded of how many people died because of what decisions he made.

The faces of shocked, terrorized or sad corpses that filled entire fields like crimson snow.

All he thought was the instrument of his decisions, the one tool that was used to execute all of his decisions in his past life.

What he received in return was a yellow-bright sword that pulsated out from his armored palm. Its form solidified and hardened in color to present a gleaming white-blade and gold-blue hilt.

… that's right.

All he's ever had in his life was a _sword_.

All that was ever done in his life was with a _sword_.

All he wanted to do now… was weaponize himself, and accept what his life has always been.

 _Sword._

Another sword materializes within his other hand. A red-bronze xiphos that felt lightweight in his grasp. Familiar, and known well enough by him for him to recall by name. _Miló._

 **Jaune felt his mind blur and burn.**

 **His memories deteriorate.**

 _Sword_.

A sword floats in the air above him, as the ancient runes that travelled down its center of the blade glows a bright blue hue. A gold hilt, and blue leathery texture that wrapped around its main handle. A weapon used by a king, who promised his people the very same ambition as his. _Excalibur._

 **The knight was losing parts of himself.**

 **His memories deteriorate.**

 _Sword._

 **He felt parts of him fall apart, and something that made him who he was departed.**

 **His memories deteriorate.**

An iron blade with ill-boding patterns, having been tempered in blood. A sword to have said never failed the hand of anyone who hefted it in battle. Having failed its former, it has returned to correct itself, hovering adjacent from the previous weapon. _Hrunting._

 _Sword._

 **There was nothing left to sacrifice.**

A weapon to divide from heaven and earth. Its shape does not consider it to be a sword, but it sufficed enough to be depicted as one. A rounded blade, it is etched with crimson veins that travel down its end. The hilt was like the previous weapons—gold, and inscribed countlessly with untranslatable markings. Its name came with grave memory of what gave birth to his standing. _Ea._

 ** _SWORD_**.

From ones to dozens, countless swords circle in the air around him, spinning rapidly like some bladed table top. Numerous swords that spun vertically and horizontally like an 'X' with a line crossed through its interception point that caused them to rotate right through each other's trajectory.

The Wyvern that overwhelmed the other in size riddled its enemy in weapons, a roar emitting from the smaller dragon's mouth before being completely decapitated and torn to ribbons to fade. Crocea Mors roared in the distance, as the sky was weaponized into swords that rained upon all the Grimm that rampaged the land.

As those around him watched in fascination of the weapons that projected, all weapons cease to a halt, and closed together to form behind him.

And just like the dragon that birthed from the moon… his wings were made of _swords_.

A single sword dispatched from his wing, moving on its own as it stabbed the woman with dual-colored hair to the ground through the stomach. All that was heard was a whimpering cry of something trying to produce sound, but could only give soundless air. He paid no mind to the agonizing figure on the ground beside him and moved towards the Gorgon.

When the woman in red came for him with her dust blades, a single hand shot out from his side and slammed straight into her throat, ceasing her airways and causing her to gasp hoarsely from the deprivation of oxygen. His hand begun to tightly close around her neck as he approaches the serpent Faunus.

"Cinder!"

Someone had shouted from the other side of him.

In response, he gave them what they wanted.

His entire torso turned as he slammed her straight into the individual that attempted to attack him next. Watching as both of their overlaying auras shatter and soon enough break through the floor they were flying towards. Easily breaking through it and causing them to descend from the tower from the gaping hole in the surface.

There were no regards spent toward the silent and unacting two remaining individuals who were on the other side. All that mattered to him right now was the nuisance of a Faunus that cowered on the ground.

"I was… I was told to! They told me I had to!" The serpent holds his face—as if holding it together from all the immense bleeding that poured from all of his pores. His entire body shook, and all he could show was a serpent-like eye terrorized with fear from between his fingers.

 _He had forgotten the two children that whimpered the same way in the wilderness._

A sword.

A sword.

And another sword.

All that had been heard after that was the cry of someone who was in agonizing pain—but that sound became too accustomed to him at that point.

Pinning Guriggen to the ground were two swords that impaled both of his biceps, and another one that stabbed straight through his stomach. Through all the crying and all the water that fell from his eyes, he was screaming out for whatever could hear him, desperately wanting to be saved.

He wondered what it was like to be saved.

 _He forgot of burning on the cross for weeks at a time, staring at nothing but the world below him, and the sun above him._

Guriggen went absolutely still when the knight's hand hovered inches above his face.

A thought that being spared was given to him, but it was only given to himself, as he lost that hope shortly after.

He stands up and leaves the Faunus with burning eyes alone until the rest of their body caught fire and shriveled…

"… Jaune?"

His head lifts slightly at a familiar voice and name, as the white petals brushed across the air when he turned around to see the silver-eyed girl in a red cape walking toward him. Behind her was a gray-haired hunter who held a hand out to her feebly, gritting his teeth in pain as he tried to get her to stop approaching him. Her eyes were filled with wonder and her mouth was slightly agap. The cuts and scrapes across her face revealed the faint amounts of blood that seeped out of them—and her aura becoming visible static around her.

Her voice was soft, and alluring in some way he didn't know a reason for.

His mind was burning inside—the collection of what he remembered was dissolving from what he couldn't hold onto of himself. What he wanted to let go of.

Slowly, her hand rose from her side, and only stood idly to watch the soft and fragile hand reach for his face. His instincts demanded for him to kill her—and another side of him refused to. The two irises with two golden crescents focused on her from behind the slits of his mask, and they glew softly. In forgotten pain and prolonged agonizing.

It was… sad.

"RUBY!"

A voice screamed.

Two swords clashed with one another, and the tower shook.

 **|| M ||**

Qrow gritted his teeth the moment the Nevermore had finally gotten to the top of the tower after countless obstructions that composed of Griffons.

When the fall of swords came down, the Nevermore had barely managed to make it through without completely dispersing into nothing from the total damage that was taken.

His eyes widened at the sight of Ruby's hand reaching for the entity's face, and saw the charred body of Guriggen, and limping form of Neapolitan quickly shattering into glass while holding her stomach.

Ozpin was still alive—and while that may have been a good sign… the powerful character that was there right now had rejected anything that could have said 'good' on it.

"Winter, get Ruby and Ozpin!"

"What?! Wait-!"

The Branwen leapt off the rising Nevermore as he withdrew his sword, coming down upon them.

 _"_ _I'm serious, Qrow! I'm going to visit a really old friend of mine there, and I want you to come with me!"_

His teeth gritted together as he glared at the man armed with wings. His grip over his sword tightening, as his crimson aura began to glow brightly with immense power.

 _"_ _Really? You're that scared of the wilderness? You're a huntress, you know."_

 _"_ _Bah! No! I want to prove to you that he's real, and he's really cool!"_

It came as no surprise to him when they turned around and held out a sword to meet with his, as the collision between both blades shook the tower, and released a bright white-red light between the two conflicting weapons.

 _"_ _Alright, alright..! I'll be with you in a bit… just go ahead and I'll catch up."_

He remembered her—he remembered _him_.

 _The hunter froze as the snow fell. The girl in the white cape laid on the ground, as the snow around her bled red._

 _Beside her body... was **him.**_

The snow that was painted in red that day...

 _'_ _Why…?! Why are you here..?! You're…'_

Ruby and Ozpin's expression shifted into shock as the huntress-in-training backed away from them.

Qrow Branwen needs to kill him. Right here, right now.

 _'_ _You're the one who killed Summer!'_


	15. The Soldier I Want To Save

**The knight watched the surreal world break into pieces.**

One part of the world had been frozen in red ice—the encased crimson-leaved trees, crimson forestry, animals and terrain. Another region, burning entirely, leaving nothing but ashes and skeletons behind. There were various other landscapes in his vision—floating islands, massive crystals wielding the spectrum of colors, mountains and prairies—frozen deserts to burning tundras.

There were castles, there were cities, and there were kingdoms.

Civilizations, villages, farms and homes.

People, animals, creatures of all types.

He watched as they slowly burned away like gradual deletion of a virtual world, where the ends of said world was breaking off into slips of paper that disintegrated into the air, as the edges became closer to Jaune as he stood in the very center of it all.

Confusion was evident within this knight's eyes, and all he could do was watch, unable to do anything else.

"Tragic, isn't it?"

Said the taller blonde, whose left eye seemed inverted in color whilst the right eye remained closed. His sclera—black, his iris—white. They stood tall, much taller than he stood currently.

Yet, something about this character was something strange. Not hostile, not friendly. The very presence he gave felt drastically abnormal, and him simply standing there and doing nothing at all was enough to warrant him to be on his guard on all times, toward any direction.

His self-defensive instincts were blaring like an alarm right now.

Jaune looked up to the man at first, but returned his attention to the shrinking world around him.

"Where are we?" He asked, hoping that the character beside him had an answer.

"In your memories, collective with all your past journeys, your past friends, and your past dreams and wishes." The man replied nonchalantly, "A deeper level of your consciousness, specifically. You've gone berserk in the real world—and Crocea Mors is no longer able to control you, and couldn't help you in retaining your wrath. There's only so much that can be prevented."

Jaune's brain felt like it was being electrocuted, causing him to reactively hold his head tightly with one hand and grunt. The other occupant in the world simply looked over to him and examined Jaune, "You're beginning to lose your memories, and soon enough, you'll be living a separate life of what you formerly were. This is only something you could've done to yourself willingly."

As the knight huffed from the brief excruciating pain, all he remembered was someone in a red cloak. On his pinky, a red ribbon was wrapped around it. There was some kind of significance to it that caused him to leave it untouched, and left him to stare at it questionably.

"Your rage was something that overpowered Crocea Mors." He states, as he gestures Jaune to look at the full moon that sits above them. A perfect sphere, flawless and elegant. Over time, it began to become transparent, revealing the curled-up dragon with golden wings wrapped around it as it slumbered.

Crocea Mors slept inside the moon, waiting and recovering.

"When you became merged with Crocea Mors, that god did all it could to prevent you from ending up as you are now in the physical world, even sealing all of your aura inside of itself."

God?

Jaune turned to the fellow blond with a skeptical expression etched over his face, and he was replied with a soft frown he never thought he'd see on that man's face.

For some reason, he felt fearful of—not to the individual telling him all of this, and not to the dragon that was sealed in the very core of the moon—but _himself_.

His memories were already a quarter away from fully being wiped, leaving the two standing on nothing more but a small island to stand on, and the untouched moon that was far above them.

He felt like he knew the answer of why he was so afraid of himself now.

"That's correct," He said in place of Jaune's internal thoughts. The irregular eye was trained on him now, and it reflected the image of his own eyes. In Jaune's eyes now, the two golden-colored crescents that radiated with power, replacing his pupils and irises. Menacing eyes that were bound to be the destruction of anything that stared at it. "You're afraid of yourself because it takes a god to try and stop you, but even it failed. This was the last and only option you and Crocea Mors had left, Jaune."

The knight stared at Crocea Mors now. His expression remained on the verge of crying, and shaking of absolute terror he instilled in himself.

As the ground was finally revealing nothing but a completely white ground, they still stood on some imaginary solid ground, and everything else was gone into the white void but him, the other occupant, and the moon dragon.

He forgot it all—his ambitions, his past, and his bonds.

The only thing he heard now from a foreign and unrecognizable voice was:

"Goodbye, Jaune Arc."

 **|| R ||**

Both Ozpin and Qrow quickly scaled the side of the tower- debris, cuts and scrapes all over them. Their weapons had been drawn as they ran parallel to each other, while Winter rode her icy-white Nevermore directly above them and in the same direction. Ruby clutched onto the Nevermore's back, hugging it close to her, otherwise fall off it on accident.

At the very top of the tower, stood the powerful enigma that remained unmoved from the tower's side. As if gravity had no effect on their positioning.

They had been in this bout for only three minutes—yet the damage they've imposed on the headmaster, veteran hunter and Atlesian specialist was critical. Their auras were running dangerously low.

Ruby lifted her head from the Nevermore's back and winced at the whiplashing winds smacking against her face, holding onto the conjured Grimm for her dear life. Her eyes fell upon the knight, and experienced what that enigma expressed. All it took for them was to just stand there.

Anger, bloodlust, wrath, hatred.

But somewhere in that person… was a pain that Ruby recognized.

Something that only she recognized.

Where the ominous enigma stood, Ruby could only examine them. She was worn down and weak from earlier—just like Ozpin is now, yet he was still managing to pick himself up to fight. It should've been an obvious answer to everyone that they were dealing with something that would either mean the end of them, or something _worse_.

Another part of her told her that there was a way to stop them from their rampaging—to stop their suffering, even if it's only for the provision of a second's worth of peace.

Her uncle's reason for attacking them was still unknown to her, but what mattered the most was the enigma and ending their violence.

The prodigy's heart beated soundly in her ears, and it felt as if it were being allured toward the ominous character. The individual that she thought had been Jaune earlier from the top of the tower. The tales of sorrow and hollowness that emitted from them.

… it caused her to feel a sharp sting of pain inside her chest.

… and she wanted to save them. To save them from that pain—that sorrow they had inside.

One more looked to them—seconds away before her and the other three were bound to make physical contact with their target.

And possibly one more step away from death's doorstep.

 _'_ _Jaune…'_ She echoed in her thoughts, a frown crossing over her lips. _'… I… I don't know what's causing you that pain—the anger you've been holding back, all the suffering you've been through… but I want to save you, even if you don't want me to.'_

One more second before they would die.

Ruby's eyes fell upon the crimson ribbon that was tied around the knight's pinky.

She lifts her own hand to see the matching ribbon tied to hers. Her eyes close, and her fist clenches with whatever failing strength she had left.

The huntress's heart gave another audible beat in her chest, and her yearning to save the person that her heart told her was Jaune became stronger.

 _'_ _Whatever obstruction there is… whatever painful experience I have to go through—even if it's more than what I've already been through. I will burden it with, or for you. I refuse to let you suffer any longer!'_

Silver eyes opened to the world before her, and her body burned inside. The area around her began to glow brightly with a foreign white light.

Trails of white light gleamed from both of her eyes, and white wings spread from her eyes.

Every fiber of Ruby's being became renewed with an unknown strength,

her will unshattered.

A bodiless voice speaks to her in this slowing of time—to the very millisecond.

 ** _'_** ** _Your voice… has reached me.'_**

 **|| U ||**

Ruby Rose stood on a small platform of land that floated in a separate realm—the reality around her surreal with a clear blue sky and reflective ocean surface miles below the island she stood on.

 _'_ _What happened… where am I?'_

The young huntress examined the unreal environment. She was in combat earlier—wasn't she? Was she teleported somewhere else entirely? Was this heaven—having died to the powerful knight inevitably?

 **"** **You are not dead, dear Rose. You are in a state of deep consciousness—as time has been paused for us to speak."**

She froze.

A voice embedded with some form of power and authority spoke to her, echoing across the separate reality like some kind of hollow chamber of a manor. Ruby turned around slowly, and was immediately met with the smooth and flawless white surface of the moon—having magnified its size by atleast hundreds for her to be just hundreds of feet away from it.

It was like speaking to the moon—or some kind of ancient god represented as a white sphere much larger than her.

 **"** **Your voice has reached me in my time of rampage."** Said the moon, as it began breaking apart.

Ruby's eyes widened as pieces of the moon gravitated away to reveal the massive gap inside of it—and also revealed the gigantic dragon with white-gold armor around it, and black-flesh like the wyvern. Its complex structure of holy-white lines travelled across its flesh like vines—or veins—as within every vein was a constant brightness of power glowing within it.

Given how big it was—that must have meant that the endless weapons and earthly material that stuck to its back scales came in multitudes of millions or trillions. All she could manage to fully see was one entire eye gazing at her intimidatingly.

Nine golden horns connected to its head in the similar fashion the legendary knight had before she had been called to this inner consciousness of hers.

A single gaze at the eyes with crescent moons in it…

… it emanated with some godly presence, just like the knight's own.

The cogs embedded into the ground clicked like moving gears as they began to rotate on their own. Frozen fire sat idly by on the edges of the surface, and the edges of the small patch of land looked as if it burned in the form of floating earthen chunks in all colors on the spectrum.

"Wh-who… are you?" The red reaper asked with awe at the sight of it, and yet, was instilled with fear from the intimidating size of the dragon.

It didn't feel like it was a Grimm at all, or anything of the actual world—Remnant.

 **"…** **I am Crocea Mors. The Yellow Death—or the 'Moon', in your world."**

Never did a single thought occur to her that the moon… was an actual _being_.

Then something had occurred to her—for her to piece things together. The larger dragon that had appeared the same time as Jaune did in his alternate form.

"You have to stop—or else Jaune won't only destroy Beacon and Vale, but the rest of Remnant as well!"

 **"** **I have tried, dear Rose… but Jaune's power is something beyond me, as over time, his strength has completely merged with mine, and become something more."** The dragon admitted without a single movement, its voice projected telepathically.

A godly being was overpowered by… a single human being?

"There has to be a way to stop him without killing him! Please, you have to help me!" She pleaded frantically, throwing her arms behind her as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes, "Jaune's suffering—he's killing himself..! I don't… I don't want that..!"

The dragon's eye stares upon her—and for a change, there was no fear present in her soul any longer. Only will and yearning to save.

The huntress didn't know anything of what the deity was thinking—but neither did she care.

The one she loved the most was suffering, and that's all that mattered.

 **"…** **It is strange how determined you are, and how caring you are of this man."**

It wasn't by some whim that she felt the need that she had to do it.

She couldn't let her attempt be a mere dream either.

As Ruby's outline burned with a white aura of fire—it did no harm, but gave her strength from within.

"Jaune…" Her voice became soft, as her face expressed the serene care she had for him, "… Jaune is someone I care about. It's not a feeling I can guess or doubt, and not something I can ignore and just watch." The girl clenched her fists.

For her to say that Jaune was just her friend… that would never settle for her.

The dragon's irises radiated with a heart-stopping force, but did little to nothing to her. The entire world around her became visually distorted for the brief second. There was one thing that had been significantly changed.

And that was the red ribbon that coiled around her pinky.

Ruby paused, looking to her ribbon to see the golden aura that emanated around it vibrantly. A compassionate and strong aura dwelled inside of it, channeling through its fabric and into her. The huntress's head turned back to the dragon, whose eye now dimmed back to its nominal gleam.

 **"** **That ribbon you both share… I will extend a part of my power to you through it, and I will do all I can to help you. Your admiration is not fake, your strength is not fake. I acknowledge you for who you are."**

If words could be spoken by a human with impact;

Then these words that were spoken by an all-mighty entity came with a surge of overwhelming strength.

 **"** **For thousands of years, Jaune has suffered with his regrets and past. When you save him, lead him anew… My time of consciousness has come to an end, and I will have to leave."**

The words that were telepathically transmitted to her echoed in her mind, and her jaw slightly dropped at the meaning behind them. There wasn't any way she knew of to prevent it—those depressing words and event. "Crocea Mors… thank you. You were holding Jaune together when he was on the verge of breaking all along."

Her heart grew light, and the dragon did nothing but listen to her voice, which paved way into the dragon's memories, "If he cannot thank you—I will thank you in place of him, and all the lives of which you are potentially—no, _are_ saving now. I may not have known you long enough… but I want to believe we'll see each other again."

The girl took a knee and bowed her head in deep respects to the eldritch, smiling kindly to it as she does so, "… sincerely, from the bottom of my heart."

 **...**

 **"** **I am glad that he will be by your side. Let it be from now to the end, Ruby Rose."**

The dragon's eye closes, and it drifts back to the center of the moon, where the debris of its former state begins to revert.

 **"** **In the state you are in your prime… my power will unite with yours. Use it wisely."**

Ruby stands up, watching as Crocea Mors began to take slumber within the moon as it reseals once again.

"… I will. Thank you again, Crocea Mors. And goodbye."

 **|| B ||**

Ozpin's cane drew closer to the knight's throat, using his semblance to outspeed the knight as the green afterimages took his former places.

Yet… _he_ was faster.

The headmaster's eyes grew wide at the sight of their blade drawing inches—and soon enough—centimeters away from his throat. He started bringing his head back to try and minimize the oncoming—and most definitely—fatal injury, but the velocity of which the blade had come acted faster than his body could react with.

A rush of wind collided with the side of his head instead, dragging his whole entire upper-half of the body by some tunneling vacuum as he stabbed his cane into the wall to hold his ground. It wasn't only him that felt it either, as he looked to his side to see Qrow stabbing his sword into the wall to keep himself from being slung straight up by some powerful gust of wind. Winter's Nevermore was losing its stability, trying to flap its wings around to regain its motion.

The enigma all of them had been fighting suddenly vanished before they could kill Ozpin, and someone had been missing from Winter's Nevermore. A tingle of suspense crawled up his neck as his entire body froze.

"… Where's Ruby?!" He shouted to Winter, who then turned around and seemed just as shocked that the huntress had vanished.

"Oz', Winter, up there!" The hunter pointed to the top of the tower to see the spire of white light in time—a white spire that was merged with golden streams of light coiling around it like a spiral column. Emitting from it wasn't the same force as the knight had, but rather… it was alluring and filled with a god-like existence.

Could it be that..?

"Everyone, we have to get up there!"

Without any hesitation, the trio scaled the side of the tower to land on the rooftop and instantly become met with a sight they would never forget.

A man who held murderous intent and domination over them stood on one side of the tower—and the other side had stood a young girl whose clothes underwent a transformation. Instead of its usual black-red theme, it converted to a red-white, where the black of her clothing was now converted white and released a flame-like effect from her outline.

Around her emitted faint particles and streams of a golden aura that had not been her own, which merged with the crimson aura she owned. Golden electricity sparked out from around it, shocking the air with some kind of purity that caused her personal airspace to become distorted into a clearer and vibrant film. Etched across her pale skin, pearl-white rigid bone plates edged along her jawline, chiseled to look like actual armor.

A white skull-head of a dragon was fixed on her left shoulder, and wrapped beneath the mount was a tattered black-red cape that majestically flowed in soft winds— thick black Grimm fur rimmed around the edges of her hood. Her wings were extended fully, its span revealing weapons that merged with the whiteness of the wings. They extended from her shoulder blades. From her entire body; gave the effect of red and white rose petals that faded from her excess emission of aura.

A young huntress with two auras, a god-like presence comparable to the man across from her, and on both of their pinkies, a red ribbon vibrantly glew with a golden hue that encompassed the ribbons.

Qrow's eyes became fixated on the glowing ribbon, and then to the one that the knight also had… and from there, piecing it together resulted in his jaw to drop.

That monster they were fighting…

 _'…_ _Jaune?!'_

"Her eyes! They're glowing!" Winter shouted, causing both of the men to witness both of Ruby's silver eyes emanating with power.

But that wasn't it.

Her left eye started to glow brighter than the right, and met with an infusion that was triggered by the golden aura encompassing her. In a small flash, her silver eyes formed the symbol of two golden crescent arcs from the glowing white and silver base of her iris.

Ozpin and Qrow shuddered, looking as if they've fallen ill at seeing the symbol, and became afraid of what was transpiring. As Winter wields no knowledge of the significance of the insignia, it left both hunter and headmaster to stand weary immensely toward the symbol. A symbol that matched the eyes of the knight they fought against.

That was, until they noticed that their auras were beginning to regenerate to its fullest with the aid of the golden aura Ruby was giving off. Their every wound and injury was beginning to heal, and the three was left to look at Ruby, whose eyes were trained on them and gave them a silent message, in which they understood almost immediately.

She wasn't their enemy—even if she had the same eye as the knight's. She hadn't turned into some kind of corrupt form of him.

What they needed to focus on right now was subduing the foe before them, with the help of Crocea Mors' energy.

 ** _'_** ** _Sharing my energy with your comrades will take a toll on how much you can use entirely.'_**

 _'_ _I know, and I'll be careful.'_

 _ **'**_ _ **You doing this alone, even with my energy, will most likely not be enough to take him down, or stop him physically. Gather as many allies as you can.'**_

Ruby Rose's scythe converted color schemes to become the same as hers, but with golden veins etching across its head and held a purely white form to it. She used it to gesture the others to get down to the courtyard, in which the three acknowledged the order and leapt off with the aid of Winter's semblance.

Having been left face to face with Jaune, her saddened eyes examined his being. The physical form of Crocea Mors was gone in the distance after defeating the smaller wyvern, and the moon stood full above their heads, the night lightened up by distant fires in the horizon of Vale. "… Please come back to your senses, Jaune."

Silence.

"This isnt' you. I know it isn't you at all." The huntress stepped forward, her foosteps causing rings of golden aura to spread across the ground and dissipate, "And I'll save you—no matter what happens!"

She vanished.

He vanished.

The top-half of the tower crumpled to pieces.

 **|| Y ||**

Everyone at the helipads saw the spire, and their fears grew worse at the sight of it. What was going on—was it an attack on Beacon and Vale? Or was it an invasion of something that was going to destroy the world?

Scattered all around were wearied hunters and huntresses, and some even White Fang members who surrendered and sided with them after Jaune's first stage of rampaging. Team _WBY saw Ozpin and the two others quickly approach the helipads, in which the three team members quickly approached them.

"Uncle Qrow, what's going on up there?!" The buxom brawler pointed up to the top of the tower, frowning, "Where's Ruby?!"

The Branwen held up his hands, trying to calm her down first, "Listen… Ruby's fighting something powerful up there—and she won't manage it without _all_ of our help. Whoever we can get help from at this point." Weiss blinked, seeing strange white sparks emitting from around her sister's body. But not only Winter's, but Ozpin's and Qrow's as well.

The ground shook, startling everyone until Ozpin looked up to see the understand of an Atlesian warship. With it, other warships that were entering the Valean airspace, surrounded by avian Grimm that proved almost little to none issues against their hulls.

 _"_ _There were some delays… but we've managed. My apologies for being late, Ozpin."_

Said the voice that emitted from the speakers of the warship. Instantly, Ozpin and some others knew who it was. It was about time the Atlesian General got there.

Someone descended down from the hatch of the ship, slamming straight into the ground with a metallic thud, as the staunch and well-uniformed man stood up with his hands folded behind his back, scanning the conditions of the area around them briefly.

James Ironwood rose a brow, "Things are worse here than I thought they were… but I think it's time my soldiers start doing their part immediately. Specialist Schnee, good job on securing as much as the ground as you could've. You will be awarded finely for these efforts of yours—and your troops." As much as he distasted the presence of a particular bird, it couldn't be helped, "I will casually hope you didn't make any further advances on my specialist while I was out."

Winter blushed heavily, staring down at the ground between her feet.

But that went unnoticed by the general, who took the moment to exchange glances with Ozpin, "What's the situation?"

"Crocea Mors, James."

The general forced a cough through his throat. The instant effect of feeling uneasy already taken place in his body, "… That… would explain the two dragons fighting each other before I got here… but what about it now? There's no world-sized dragon flying around anymore."

The headmaster shook his head and gestured to the tower, "Crocea Mors _is_ also a person, James… and they're more powerful than we've ever anticipated them from being rather than just slightly powerful than any maiden on Remnant."

"Then you're telling me we're face to face with a _god_?"

"… Yes." The headmaster grimaced—stopping himself to watch the tower fall into pieces with the others around him, "… and we will need _all_ of the help we can get. This time, _not_ as a precaution, but as an _urgent matter_. The council will have to learn of this another time. This is all that matters."

As the general agreed with him… he saw two distant lights shine as they descended down the side of the crumpling tower at high velocity.

"Everyone, get back!" Someone shouted, leaving the main four—Winter, Qrow, Ozpin and Ironwood—to glance off to the side to see the green-clad gunslinger and hopped back.

All of the people that were at the helipad braced themselves from the rapid and powerful bursts of wind pressuring against them. Some people were flying back from the force that the winds dragged from the impact from when the two lights had collided into the ground.

"Nora! Do it!" The green-clad teen shouted. The next second, everyone heard a thunderous thoom meet the ground and shook it, stopping the winds entirely to reveal a part of the ground being spiked up in response to a massive hammer slamming into the ground. It blocked off the currents and redirected them to go around instead.

Ozpin took a breath of relief and turned to the two—two teenagers he's _never_ seen or recognized as students of the Academy before. The headmaster rose a brow, "Who… are you two?"

The green-clad teen and pink-themed ginger turned to the headmaster. The ginger giving a cheerful wave, and the other giving a light bow.

"I am Lie Ren. This is my close friend, Nora Valkyrie, sir. We aren't students of the academy, but… I have an idea as to how to handle our current common enemy. And right now, the only way to stop him is to try and calm him down."

It left the headmaster surprised at what was claimed. As trust wasn't given instantly to someone he's just met… he _has_ to trust them in the peril they're in now. Ozpin nods reluctantly, "… You have a plan?"

A nod from Ren, "Yes, I do. But it'll require as many people as possible to help suppress him. People that can fight."

"Count on me to lead from the front!" Beamed the Valkyrie, who grinned widely with Magnhild over her shoulder.

"I suggest that me, you and your group, and those three—" He points to Yang, Blake and Weiss, "With Nora, she can take at least those who are stronger or able to use long-range to try and suppress him whenever we need the covering fire."

"I can order my ships to open fire on him as well." Said the general, who walked up to the Ozpin's side with the specialist and Branwen, "My Atlesian warships have enough fire power to level a city if need be."

The gunslinger nods to him and glances to the direction of Ruby and Jaune, who were currently engaged in combat with one another, "… Right now, I firmly believe that _she_ is the only one that can stop him right now entirely. But she won't be able to do it without support. As your ships won't be able to stop him at all, it'll be enough to add to the firepower in order to pin him down while those in close-combat recover.

"I'll have my men deploy Paladins as necessary. That will do to add to the frontal power."

"We'll hop in too!" A fashionista strolled up with her team and _WBY, giving a wave and a grin, "I'm more than capable in close-combat and ranged, so I can easily switch whenever I need to. Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi are more primed in close-combat than I am though."

"Then the plan's settled. As risky as this is… this is all we have left if we all want to live to see tomorrow." Ren stated, drawing both of his Stormflowers from his sleeves. Everyone else unleashed their weapons in their prime in that cue. "Headmaster, please take command as you're more experienced than combat than I or anyone else here!" The gunslingers rushes forward with the rest of the frontal strike team, "I'll tell you everything that needs to happen in the middle of it all!"

The headmaster nods to him when approaching the two fighters ahead of them, who fought beneath the raining hell of debris that was formerly the tower. Each of their contacting strikes of deadlock causing pieces around them to burn to ash.

Ozpin grimaced.

To fight an entity that was stronger than anything that he's ever imagined—the maidens of the seasons, the mastermind behind the Grimm… it was, admittedly, terrifying. Shook him to the core.

Looking to the faces around him, he could tell that everyone there was afraid of what would come, but it didn't stop them. They all fought with deceiving masks of bravery—and those masks exuded strongly with bravery that was residing in all of them.

His feet stomped against the ground when he felt his body rushing forward—air smacking against his face from the sudden movement he committed himself to without even thinking about it.

It was like his body started to move on its own—and soon enough, everyone else as well.

Ozpin felt the power that surged through his body, as if reserved for a crisis such as this. If his mind didn't make up its thoughts, then his body would have to take its place until it could rearrange itself.

They ran into hell without a second thought.

The aged hunter/headmaster stared hard at the form of Ruby Rose, who was determined to fight the man before her for everyone's sake—who used her power to save everyone the best she can. With what power she could spare from her form, Ozpin used it to the best of his ability.

A prodigy, a partaker of the legend concerning silver-eyed warriors, a young huntress in training.

She had already surpassed all of those titles by now, if she hadn't already.

A girl who took a step into an impossible fight to change the tide of battle however she could without fear evident in her heart. Who would one day be able to change every aspect of Remnant. The heroine of what everyone could have been looking for, just having not fully bloomed to the entire world to be seen.

Ruby Rose has bravery.

The fighters that stepped into the hell that may be the end of them has bravery.

If that wasn't bravery…

… then what was?


	16. The Soldier Lost In White

**The knight gazed at the sky.**

Snow.

Snow that came down from the sky above them; as a light coating of it pecked the forest around them. A beautiful day that had no sun, no moon. Only clouds that grayed the sky and bright enough for them to see the rest of the environment around them come to life as the passing breeze brushed through.

A woman sat upon the large rock. In the cold of the blanketing winter, she held something much colder in her hands, and kept it tucked close to her. The brunette does all she can to give the white-furred wolf pup warmth with her cloak. To wrap it up and share a tender care to the dying animal, as blood seeped from its side. A red essence of life that was already at too much loss to the point that it was beyond saving by natural means of medicine and nursing.

He approached the rock she sat on, and his hand gently rested upon the cold surface of the rock as he gazed at one side of her face. An emotion was expressed from her—and it was an emotion that he was no stranger to. To her, any life that was lost without having an attempt at reality first… was _tragic_. A hammer to the nail that verged on piercing a thick cement slab.

"Still… you cry, knowing that this is how life is."

"Why wouldn't I..?" She sobbed quietly, her near-frozen hands shaking around the near-lifeless body of a baby wolf as she held onto it for her dear life. Her lips quivered as the tears flowed down her face like droplets of rain. A foster mother to a child that she hadn't even seen before or even blood related. Not even her own kind.

"All life… is so precious, and has so much potential that anything could one day… maybe lead the world into being a better place. The end to the racism between the Faunus and Humans, the end of Grimm, the end of hate."

The cloaked brunette knew that what she said… was nothing more than a naïve dream to the blond who accompanied her and the dying pup. A blond who had already explained to her so many times over and over again like a parrot that this was something that was seen everywhere and repeated for generations and generations.

But still,

She refused to believe it.

What made the woman so strong in her time of being a huntress was the refusal to believe that there was no hope in the future and that there will be a hero to save the world. To save Remnant and the people from themselves. A darkness to be illuminated by the light that very person would bring upon the planet.

"It's a childish dream," He said in full awareness that he once wielded that same thought in the past after it failed him countlessly. Someone who knew that dream would never become a reality based on the sole fact that he had lived long enough through every instance and not had seen a single hint of it anywhere, "—but you aren't wrong for having it."

"Your dream… is a beautiful thing to have."

She fell silent, listening to him… and listened as the weak pup's breath grew lighter and paused for longer periods of time. Her face down, her teardrops melting the snow accumulating below her, and her shoulders slouched. The silver-eyed woman sniffed as her thumb caressed the side of the pup's face to brush off the snow that accumulated there. Not daring to let the baby animal to be introduced even more cold, even if it couldn't feel the cold any longer.

"What kind of hero can I be… if all I can do is watch things die, and be unable to save it at all?" She hitched as her voice croaked.

His eyes didn't leave the form of the animals cradled in her arms. A question was put out, and that very question continued to stump him to the present. It was a tragedy all on its own that no one could change or avoid.

"No matter in the face of death at any angle… _smile_." The knight instructed when his hand fell gently upon her hand that touched the pup, his warm hold meeting hers as he did such thing, "You will never know whenever you will have the last smile in anything, and show no fear in such fate, should it ever come across you."

Slowly, the knight rose his head, revealing the azure irises behind the locks of blond hair as a soft smile came over him. His other hand lifts from his side, the leather of his glove's palm resting on the side of her face as his thumb wiped away whatever trail her tears left on her cheeks, "In your own way, you are the light."

The pup's eyes opened groggily to see the white-cloaked huntress with silver eyes and the blond-haired knight, revealing the golden-amber eyes of the pup as it's breathing stabilized. It was too weak to move or even make a sound, but gazed with a level of exhaustion at the duo.

The knight moved his hand away from her and the pup, as the blood was gone along with the wound it once had. Warmth soon filled the pup, and all the huntress could do now was smile with utter joy. Her tears were no longer held back by sorrow and sadness, but with the relief of happiness that a life was saved. As if it meant the entire world to her.

Careful to continue embracing the baby wolf with her cloak to share her warmth, her other hand lurched forward to take ahold of his retreating hand and pulled him forward gently.

When he was close enough, she wrapped her hand around the back of his head and brought him close to her.

The knight's eyes widened as she brought his head to rest against her chest in a motherly manner, and looked up to find the woman's eyes closed with the most grateful smile plastered across her lips. It was something he didn't voice question for, and fell into the state of confusion before sighing and nodding in acceptance of her strange action.

Her voice fell soft and gentle to his ears. A voice that made the cold winter change to the warm of summer.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Jaune… I will continue to strive to become a hero, no matter what others say about my dreams. There is so much that means the world to me… and you are one of them."

He realized… that if he couldn't become a hero like he once wanted to be in the past, or couldn't save as many lives as he could have in the past… he could leave whatever hope he had left into this lone huntress.

"You are my hero."

 **|| W ||**

 _Memory has been erased._

The knight stood idly by as the cannon fire of the Atlesian warship met the ground around him, obliterating bricks to dust and dirt to nothing. Round after round, he was met with a high level of oppressive force that would've killed any normal human being a million times over if it wasn't for the fact this knight was that of an ancient presence. As he walked forward, he walked through the explosions that engulfed him—and disregarded it with no interest shown to them to the very least.

"Soldiers, Huntresses, Hunters, take aim! When this volley is done, open fire!"

The knight watched as the lines of men and women of different blood and attire took their stand afar with what they called 'weapons' positioned at the ready to shoot.

"Hunters with ranged semblances, on my mark!"

A woman in an elegant white uniform shouted in command the next, conjuring forth her white-themed Alpha Beowulf. With it, several other inferior beowulves to complete the pack. The explosions around him subsided, and immediately, he was met with small projectiles that collided into his body—- reflecting off or simply going through him without a single thought paid to them. Bullet spray was strategized in place of the cooldown of the Atlesian cannons overhead.

The knight pressed forward in disregard of the gunfire and rose his sword—

"Everyone, scatter! Ranged hunters, engage your attacks!"

"No, remain where you are, I'll handle this! Hunters, continue the attack! You can count on me!"

That voice became something he was once familiar with at one point in time.

A distant voice that may have been heard somewhere in his forgotten past.

With his broadsword coming down upon the miniature army of individuals infront of him, his sword unleashed the destructive blow that tore apart Remnant and warped solid material inward to its gravity. In a streaking flash of light, someone appeared infront of the attack and rose their scythe to press against the blow while those around them released their semblances.

A wave of conjurations and bolts sped through the air like blurring bolts of light, taking up his entire vision. When the white Nevermore fully reached him, it's talon reached for his face before becoming divided into halves, his sword cleaving through it like paper while it dispersed into fading particles of snow-white aura past him. The knight's body turned with his sword arm—- and his sword sliced through the wave of projectiles. A free hand shot forward, and he grabbed a tusk of a snow-white boarbatusk and crushed it, ending it of its existence.

He felt the presence of an individual behind him and turned around to narrow his gaze upon the gray-haired hunter. The notion of him being able to kill the old hunter was made easy, and it prompted him to swing his sword arm and bring the blade close to the veteran hunter's neck.

A loud _'cling'_.

The knight's rage-filled irises fell upon the curving blade of the scythe-wielding hunter with crowish hair. It stopped a minimal amount of momentum from his trajectory. It did impact from insignificant to nothing for the knight's attack—- but soon came to a complete halt when two green blades and the head of a hammer stopped his weapon.

Accompanying the caped hunter was an electrified ginger and green-clad teen with a pink stripe in his hair. Every face that was presented before him was signs of human fatigue and effort being mixed together in a final struggle.

As if everything was in vain in this very bout.

"Come to your senses, remember who you are!" The black-haired teen shouted as he gritted his teeth to pull back the sword being opposed.

"There's still time to come back to us before everything is lost! You don't have to lose anything else! You still have us!" The ginger shouted afterward.

Those familiar voices.

They echoed in his head as his mind tried to remember who they were.

But failed.

When the headmaster's cane neared his throat, the knight withdrew his sword from their weapons and smashed his fist into the ground, unleashing an outward blast around him and sent them flying across the field. Their auras shattered, causing static of their respective colors around them.

"We cannot fail now! Charge!"

A roar consisted of numerous warriors filled the air in the distance from him. The hunters, the soldiers, the fighters. They all ran towards him without hesitation in their expressions and rose their weapons, firing across the field as they did.

An explosion ignited beside him from one of the warship cannons, followed by another series of them.

From behind his mask, the black-blond haired knight's glare grew intense and hardened. His grip around the hilt of his weapon tightened. To no end did he find this any amusing. Around him was nothing but ruins and chaos caused by the hands of Humanity and Faunus alike. Those despair-filled expressions that were written across their faces were all too old for him to see.

To his side, he watched as the fighters he defeated earlier return back to their feet slowly, a mixing blend of their aura hues and white merging together to continue their fight. The white energy on its own was something he knew of—- a presence that only he wielded at the time… and for them to have access to it, it only made him more enraged than he was now.

"Chance."

The woman said, as his eyes widened from behind his mask.

He watched as the bright, golden form of a red-haired woman wielding a round shield and spear descended upon him from above. Rather than stand his place and counter the woman's attack, his body instinctively leapt back and lifted his sword to block a spear blade that neared him. Her emerald eyes focused on him intently and attacked him just as strategically, but her form… she looked nothing more than an apparition.

And soon, her appearance was replaced.

It was replaced by a random woman who dared to attack him with a naginata, followed by two others that ran around her and brought their swords down on him whilst he blocked her weapon.

"If a 'chance' could be given, anyone willing would take it," Her voice echoed in his head again—- and he thrusted himself forward. Easily overwhelming the woman in raw power, his sword slashed horizontally across the air and rendered the three defeated when they flew back from the force and met the ground with their auras shattering.

"That is what you taught me, Jaune…"

The knight grit his teeth and restrained a growl when his eyes fell upon the same woman who appeared as a golden apparition. She stood in the middle of the horizon, in the far distance from him with the rest of those that opposed him.

She stuck out like a sore thumb.

Long ago, the knight forgotten her identity, what or who she was, as it was replaced by fury that was held in reserve for Remnant as a whole. At the same time, it made him afraid.

Afraid of why she continued to appear before him when he had discarded her as a memory.

"You have saved many things that are not only Human within this world," A man's voice echoed now, and he reflexively turned to meet the blade that struck into his when guarding his side. He came face to face with the man who wore the crown upon his head, who wore royal garbs and held a sword once sealed in the rock, possessing the same golden hue around him just as the previous did, "The only person you are failing to save is _yourself_."

The knight broke contact with the apparition as it faded away, replaced with a soldier who turned his sword into a rifle after distancing himself and took aim upon him. The knight lunged forward and brought his sword up right when the soldier was pulled aside by their comrade, narrowly avoiding a lethal strike.

"You have killed many people for the sake of saving so much more."

Another voice.

Instantly, he rotated his body to swipe aside the deathly red beam that came to him. The beam proceeded to burn through many still-standing constructs. Glaring upon another golden apparition, one that took the form of an Alpha Beowulf whose body was pierced and embedded with multiple spikes of dust crystals into his back with his scales just as bizarre with gray fur. Smoke rose from its fangs, "Why is it you must change, _Almighty_?!"

Change…

… that word became a term that internally damaged him.

"Afraid?"

At the last moment, his head swerved to the side to avoid the dagger that nearly pierced his throat through the back. The knight rose an arm and brought his elbow back for hard impact against the individual behind him, launching them farther away on contact. They slid across the ground briefly until they could slow down and recover just as quickly, their menacing eyes returning the vile gaze to him. The runes on his body glew just as bright as the golden light that produced from around him.

"We're always afraid. Of many things. Of many facts."

The knight wanted to move and end the lives of everyone around him.

For whatever had caused such rage to be pent up inside him, all it did was destroy him internally and left nothing behind but a burnt path that lead backwards. There was no road forward for him any longer. There was nowhere for him to go, there was nowhere for him to turn to.

So why was it that—

 _"Therefore; your ambition to save people isn't wrong."_

Those words were put into suspense and question.

It made him stop and glare at nothing but the ground and his bloodied hands. The blood-soaked sword already had blood dried up or swung off it, the marks on it only made it more of a fact that it was used to take lives. A double-edged weapon that was meant to take lives and his own when swung the wrong way.

Blinded from the unreasoned rage; maybe it was only realization that… the only reason why such rage existed was because of _himself_.

In return; it made him lose everything.

Everything around him now… was simply a dead space.

His instincts screamed at him for him to raise his sword to defend himself from an oncoming attack.

But he refused.

So when he lifted his head, he saw the outstretched hand that reached out for him with one final golden apparition that was bound to leave him soon enough.

And that apparition was—

Her arms linked around his head as she embraced him tightly. To feel the soft, warm hands of hers pull against the back of his head and the other to wrap lightly across his nape. All he saw was the white fabric that floated in the wind and surrounded the both of them in this one-sided embrace. For once, his body settled with standing still and doing nothing rather than taking lives of those he came to wield anger against.

His eyes closed, and the last he saw was the white change to red.

He wondered…

 **|| H ||**

In a world complete of white,

His mask cracked apart, and the dissolving bits of it fell from his face. It dissolved away into nothing as it descended to the ground.

Every part of him remained, and his azure eyes opened to see the field of white flowers completely taking up the entire ground around them. He felt this warm embrace that was wrapped around him. He couldn't reject it—- there was no screaming instinct for him to push it away or find a means of ending it. It gave life more than it would accept death.

The head that was pressing warmly against the side of his shuffled slightly, as he heard light sobs from right next to him. His mouth went ajar slightly before morphing into a thin line.

"Are you… crying?"

He asked.

"Why wouldn't I..?"

To hear her cry meant the world to him.

There wasn't a reason behind it, there wasn't a reason for him to feel that way.

But there was.

"You're hurt. You're bleeding from inside your heart, you're screaming on the inside, crying. I know this feeling." She said, her voice trembling and weak, "It's like a needle that pierces the heart… bleeding slowly, and all you can do is just let it. No matter how painful it is or how much it's killing you inside, telling you to live through it, or suffer and die alone."

His blooded arms rose from his sides.

The sword coated in it fell to the ground, joining the unstained flowers around them.

As he fell to his knees slowly, her feet touched the ground, and together, they embraced one another in the field of white as he returned the emotion.

"I don't know everything about you, or maybe even anywhere near of knowing you just a little bit…"

Her fingers wrapped into more of his hair, causing his head to become pulled further into her embrace, "Everything about you- your eyes, voice, actions… you're screaming so loud that no one could hear you. You walked somewhere no one could hope to imagine reaching you in. But I want to save you. Even if it has to replace my dream of being a huntress."

A silent pause.

His softest of chuckles filled in for the silence as his embrace around her increased, basking in her soothing warmth, "It's a childish dream…"

But it was a dream that was selfishly desired.

Because if it took a selfless desire to save more lives than a selfish one, he wanted a selfless desire.

Though, the pain that hurt him so much just couldn't bear it any longer. The threshold of having this agonizing sensation added onto with so much more guilt and shame was long passed. What led to the earlier event of his rampage, and now, his losing of self.

A farewell to the him that's now.

Just for this moment, he wanted to be selfish.

"… but you aren't wrong for having it."

The field of white flowers around them waved against the imaginary wind, as their petals change from white to red in a smooth transition around them, spreading like calm fire.

He was aware that she was bound to get hurt somewhere in the journey.

The last thing he wanted was something like that to happen. By all means he would do anything that was necessary to prevent it from ever happening. But given what had happened now… all he did was hurt her even more because of his own blindness.

"If only… I could've saved you."

A soft grin plastered across his lips. His hand left from her back, and her body pulled away from his a small space for him to look down and see her face. With the hand he pulled away earlier, he let his palm rest against her cheek and wiped away a tear that was on her face.

She gazed at him with a frown, leaning her head against his palm with a hand resting over his.

"... You have."

Her eyes softened to further sadness,

"What… what do you mean?"

"You… already saved me. No matter how strange the coincidences were for each time we met, I loved every moment of it. You tried to save me, and I tried saving you. In the end, we both tried to save each other. It may be late already, but… I know by now that… the person who was able to save me from myself was you all along."

Ruby found no words to say, only speechless as to how to respond to such.

He continued,

"Before I go… smile. Can you smile… one last time for me, Ruby?"

Her lips quivered—- the feeling that she didn't want him to go, but knew that his time was almost over. She remembered what her mother had told her about smiling, even if it was absurd to smile at 'any angle that is faced with death'. Even so, the young huntress took it to heart. Something to never let go of, heart and mind.

No matter how painful it was to her heart, the brunette looked up to Jaune…

And smiled.

"I love you, Jaune."

 **|| I ||**

Qrow punched the wall of the vertibird, roaring in anger as he glared in the direction of the ruined academy, "Why did we have to pull back, why did we abandon Ruby?!"

"Qrow, calm down… I'm sure there's a reason for i-"

"The discharge would've killed all of us." Said the green-clad teen, who approached Qrow and Winter calmly. Beside him, his hammer-wielding companion, Nora, "If all of us stayed, all of us would've died from the blast. The energy that's released when his rampaging is over explodes outward to release all the power that gets built up inside of him—- like a walking bomb."

"… And how is it you know this, Mr. Lie Ren?" Inquired the headmaster, who approached them with General Ironwood and Goodwitch by his sides, "You suggested this plan… and you knew it would succeed, so this is where I have to ask now, _how_ did you know this?" His eyes narrowed upon the teen, in which Ren's narrowed magenta gaze placed itself on the headmaster's eyes.

"Because that's how _my_ home fell apart."

Everyone within the vertibird fell silent.

It was only them in that very space.

Everyone else boarded a warship that would take them back to Vale completely, leaving only them in that bullhead to return to the academy grounds when the blast was over and declared safe. With the pilot of the bullhead informing the General that the blast was over, Ironwood commanded for the pilot to return to the grounds.

"We will have to talk after this is all over." Ozpin said, giving the boy one last look before turning to the side-hatch.

"What about Ruby though? Will she be alright?" Qrow quickly placed his hand on Ren's shoulder to get his attention—- Nora forcing his hand off him with a scowl. Reluctantly, the usual drunkard accepted having his hand shoved away from the green-clad boy.

"She'll be fine… if her energy was mixed with who I think it was, then there shouldn't be a way for the same energy she's combined with to be able to harm her on discharge. Rest assured, sir… everything will be alright now."

"Landing in five…!" Shouted the pilot, the side-hatch hissing open to reveal the light of the sunrise, illuminating the night and revealing the seemingly endless placements of white flowers covering every inch of the academy—- providing a visual of life on even the fallen pieces and ruins of what was formerly constructs of the academy property.

The flowers waved when the gentle breeze fell upon them, and Ironwood was the first to step out with awe written across his face, followed by the others that came out with him shortly after. As if the war and fight from earlier was decades ago, long enough for plant life to overtake the entire place those following years. To say it was beautiful was an understatement.

To say it was majestic would've been an understatement.

With no words to describe what they saw now, the only thing that mattered to one of them the most was one thing… or _person_.

Ruby kneeled on the ground in the center of it all, a blond-haired man resting his head on her lap with his face towards the sky. A man who looked at peace and ease now, but worn of fatigue and roughening from an earlier fight. Her humming of a melody echoing across the peaceful, former warzone, as the flowers danced gently to her voice. The prodigy's fingers gently danced across his forehead, threading through his blond locks of hair smoothly, with her other hand intertwined with his.

Qrow treaded slowly through the flowers and became speechless at the sight like the rest. The more his vision fell upon the form of a red-themed huntress in the middle of the white field, he saw someone else that stood behind his niece in the form of some kind of ghost, who dressed in a white cloak. She stood over behind Ruby, overlooking the child with a soft smile and eyes closed.

"… Summer..?" His voice shook, approaching them quietly while lost in thought. When he had gotten a step away from Ruby and Jaune, the ghostly figure faded, and he looked down to the two that remained. Kneeling before Ruby, he studied Jaune's peaceful face and couldn't find it in himself to glare, or to try and kill him now just to make sure he was dead. What drove him earlier to try and kill Jaune when he was on his rampage… it vanished, as if it never existed.

The thought remained… as to why it had to be Jaune, of all people though.

Winter joined by his side, kneeling down with him and rested a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "It's finally over."

"Yeah. Yeah, it is." He said almost silently, his fists letting go into open hands.

With Ozpin and the others standing just several steps away from them, Ozpin frowned, fixing his glasses when he struggled to even remain standing with just his cane after Crocea Mors's energy had left him. With Glynda being able to support him fully, he sighed and narrowed his gaze upon the unconscious blond, "To think… that he was the Lost Soldier. I wouldn't have expected it at all. But now it explains what I saw from when he was in the field the first time… it wasn't a dream at all."

"No one knew who he was," Ren stepped forward to garner Ozpin and Ironwood's attention, "And for the longest time, he didn't want to be known… not until Ruby came along. She found him in his darkest times."

Nora smiled, nodding while watching both Ruby and Jaune, "He's found peace at last."

"It truly has been tragic for him, if all those stories concerning the Lost Soldier was true. For him to live for so long since the very beginning of Humanity's first evolution to the present. To have gone through and survived so many wars without end…" The Atlesian General clenched his fists, shaking his head, "A soldier, at its finest."

"… Agreed." The headmaster concurred upon waving to Goodwitch, who allowed him to stand on his own for now, "Now, to make the next step…"

Ironwood approached the blond and brunette, withdrawing his revolver from his holster and aiming it down upon the blond. The brunette's eyes widened at the towering general—- and Qrow immediately stepped inbetween the barrel of the revolver and the unconscious blond, glaring at him.

"What the hell are you doing, tinman?!" Qrow growled, as Winter could only watch in shock at the interaction between the two.

"Ending what could be a potential end to mankind, Qrow. Either we kill him now, or we keep him captive for eternity within Atlesian security."

"James, what you're doing is a fatal mistake. We won't gain anything from killing Jaune, or holding him captive for as long as he lives for his entire life!" Ozpin aimed the tip of his cane towards Ironwood, and in exchange, the general returned the favor of aiming his revolver at the headmaster, both veterans glaring at one another.

"Move aside. All you've done is hold the Fall maiden here and for all I know, one of our enemies already has the Fall maiden powers now, don't they?!"

Ozpin winced.

"I see I was right in making that assumption! If I leave making decisions up to you as to what to do with the Lost Soldier, all of mankind—- no, _Remnant_ will be in peril all over again with Grimm only making it _worse!_ "

Ruby's jaw dropped, subconsciously holding Jaune close to her as she heard their argument, shaking, "No! Don't… don't do any of that to Jaune!"

"Ruby, you must understand, this is for the sake of _everyone_ on this world as we know it! This is for the better good of the society!"

Ozpin scowled at Ironwood, "We can _save_ Remnant if we keep him alive, James! We now have a power that surpasses any maiden's power, and the relics! This can be the end to suffering! We can use Jaune as a weapon against Salem- and however powerful allies she has at the tip of her fingers!"

There was a tense pause for Qrow, Winter, Ruby, Ren and Nora.

All of their sights slowly transitioned to the headmaster at shock at what he was saying, in which the headmaster ignored for the sake of winning the debate between Headmaster and General.

"As much as everyone is in danger by the mere presence of him—- we can use him! We will be able to safeguard him as we see fit, and use him as a weapon against our greatest foes."

"You want to use Jaune as a _weapon_?" Qrow's gaze soon fell into a glare at the headmaster, "Oz', what in the hell are you saying?! You can't just use people like that!"

"Jaune is a weapon, a weapon of ancient times, one easily capable of destroying worlds at a time. It will take time for him to get use to it, but with enough effort, we will be able to use him!"

As the young huntress knelt there in fear, she felt… more fearful than she did when Jaune first appeared in his berserk form. Hugging the blond so tight, it was like a little girl hugging onto a prized possession as tightly as possible just to make sure it wouldn't drop or break.

Soon enough, she felt a hand fall upon her shoulder, and turned her head to see the source of it. She saw Ren and Nora, who looked down to her with a frown and nodded…

"Stop it, you two! This isn't the time to be aiming your weapons at eachother! We have to think this through more, and come to an agreement." Goodwitch telekinetically forced both their weapons away from one another and had them aim to the ground instead, "For now, we will have to make shelter at Vale and ensure that everyone in Vale is alright and salvage what we can. Ruby, please help in taking Jaune with Ren and Nora into the bullhead with us."

…

"… Ruby?"

Everyone turned their heads to where she formerly was, only to find an empty spot. The red-themed huntress was missing from there… along with Ren and Nora.

Jaune, as well.

 **|| T ||**

They ventured into the snow-filled forest, as Ren opened a map with Nora looking just over his shoulder.

"Oh, we should go this way! This place look like a pancake—- it's gotta be a forest full of magical pancakes!"

A content, happy sigh from the green-clad teen, "Nora… I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as pancake forests."

Ruby joined them shortly after leaving the village's inn, walking onto the road and smiled at the duo.

It's been weeks since the tragic events of Vale and Beacon. Weeks since Ruby fled and gone missing after abandoning the headmaster and the others that were there. It was most likely thanks to the destruction of the Cross Continental Tower that it was going to be hard tracking her and her friends down… but the lingering feeling of missing her former team never went away.

But Ruby remained resolved onto this path.

The young huntress slung her travel pack over her back more comfortably.

"You guys ready to go?"

"Pft, well _yeah_ , we've _been_ ready, silly head." Nora jested again while sticking her tongue out, "Adventure never sleeps!"

Ren simply chuckled, nodding wordlessly to the brunette.

' _They've travelled a long way for what they sought for.'_

Ren and Nora stopped, blinking momentarily and gestured for Ruby to look behind her. Right as she did, she was introduced to the sight of a familiar blond who greeted them with a grin and a travel pack on his back as well, a sword strapped to his side.

He wore a black hoodie with long sleeves, fingerless gloves, and simple faded jeans that accompanied his boots. Tied around one of his belt loops, a red ribbon that had been tied there, easy to see. Ruby smiled in response to seeing it, as she had a similar ribbon, having tied it to one of the loops that connected her cape together.

' _A spark of fire, to ignite what you call 'hope'.'_

"Ready to go, Jaune?" The brunette smiled to him, and he smiled back.

"Yeah. Let's go, Ruby."

The four soon took off to the road to walk to their next destination…

… to find forgotten memories.

 _'What humanity has now that would be possible to saving themselves… it lies in the actions of a young huntress that has left them in sake for one man...'_

A caped man with crowish hair sat idly on the edge of a cliff, watching the four walking on. With his thumb and index finger rubbing lightly against his necklace cross, he sighed, and hopped off the edge. Soon enough, he vanished, and all that was left behind was a crow to fly off into the air, soaring freely above the four…

The hooded woman looked up to see the crow from within the village before setting her eyes on Ruby's friends shortly after. Placing her book aside, she pulled over her cloak to conceal her saber as she trailed after them from afar…

 **|| E ||**

 _'So how does it feel, having your only hope of having someone save all of humanity as you've hoped abandon you, Ozpin?'_

The back of a white-haired woman in dark robes looked out into the dark formations of rock and Grimm-infested lands.

 _'In your search for the Lost Soldier you've desperately searched for all along as a redundancy to the four maidens' powers… all hope has been deprived of you. Though… after all this time…'_

Her body turns, as her pale skin and black-veined cheeks reveal, the black-sclera and crimson irises brightening as she spoke.

 _'… I have finally found you, Jaune.'_

* * *

 **There was a little edit made for the hooded woman, where _rapier_ was changed to _saber_ after a little mistake. Brief thanks to the guys in the Reviews that mentioned the rapier and who it possibly belonged to.**

 **-fanfiction Penguin, aborting thread.**


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